Alaska statistical areas

The U.S. State of Alaska currently has four statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On July 21, 2023, the OMB delineated two metropolitan statistical areas and two micropolitan statistical areas in Alaska.^[1] The most populous of these statistical areas is the Anchorage, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area, centered on the state's largest city of Anchorage.

Background

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated more than 1,000 statistical areas for the United States and Puerto Rico.^[2] These statistical areas are important geographic delineations of population clusters used by the OMB, the United States Census Bureau, planning organizations, and federal, state, and local government entities.

The OMB defines a core-based statistical area (commonly referred to as a CBSA) as the county or counties (or county-equivalents) surrounding at least one densely-settled core of at least 10,000 population,^[2] "plus adjacent counties having a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured through commuting ties with the counties containing the core".^[2] The OMB further divides core-based statistical areas based on population into metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for those with at least 50,000 and micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) for those with 10,000 to 49,999 people.^[2]

The OMB defines a combined statistical area (CSA) as two or more adjacent core-based statistical areas where the employment interchange rate (% commuting from A to B plus % commuting from B to A) is at least 15%.^[2] The primary statistical areas (PSAs) include all combined statistical areas and any core-based statistical area that is not a constituent of a combined statistical area.

Table

The four United States statistical areas, 19 organized boroughs and 11 census areas of the State of Alaska
Core-based statistical area^[1]	2023 population (est.)^[3]	County-equivalent	2023 population (est.)^[3]
Anchorage, AK MSA	401,314	Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska	286,075
Anchorage, AK MSA	401,314	Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska	115,239
Fairbanks-College, AK MSA	94,840	Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska	94,840
Juneau, AK μSA	31,555	City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska	31,555
Ketchikan, AK μSA	13,738	Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska	13,738
none		Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska	61,223
		Bethel Census Area, Alaska	18,224
		Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska	12,565
		North Slope Borough, Alaska	10,603
		Nome Census Area, Alaska	9,763
		City and Borough of Sitka, Alaska	8,282
		Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska	8,001
		Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska	7,361
		Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska	7,077
		Chugach Census Area, Alaska	6,769
		Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska	5,696
		Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska	5,160
		Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska	5,129
		Dillingham Census Area, Alaska	4,607
		Aleutians East Borough, Alaska	3,461
		Petersburg Borough, Alaska	3,427
		Copper River Census Area, Alaska	2,674
		Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska	2,262
		Haines Borough, Alaska	2,070
		Wrangell City and Borough, Alaska	2,064
		Denali Borough, Alaska	1,584
		Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska	1,331
		Municipality of Skagway, Alaska	1,095
		Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska	844
		Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska	687
State of Alaska			733,406

Core-based statistical areas

The following table provides the in-state population ranking of each CBSA along with its rate of population change over time.

The four core-based statistical areas of the State of Alaska
2023 rank	Core-based statistical area^[1]	Population
2023 rank	Core-based statistical area^[1]	2023 estimate^[3]	Change	2020 Census^[4]	Change	2010 Census^[5]
1	Anchorage, AK MSA	401,314	+0.75%	398,328	+4.60%	380,821
2	Fairbanks-College, AK MSA	94,840	−0.85%	95,655	−1.97%	97,581
3	Juneau, AK μSA	31,555	−2.17%	32,255	+3.13%	31,275
4	Ketchikan, AK μSA	13,738	−1.51%	13,948	+3.49%	13,477