What is the population of Bethel city?

Bethel city has 6,313 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #17 of 355 in Alaska.

What is the median household income in Bethel city?

Median household income in Bethel city is $109,718 a year, 39.7% above the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Bethel city?

Median gross rent is $1,657 a month and the median home value is $354,400, so rent absorbs about 18.1% of median household income.

Is Bethel city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 3.2× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Bethel city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 18.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

Alaska · Census place 06520

Bethel, AK population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Bethel, Alaska (Bethel, AK — Census place “Bethel city”) is 6,313 residents, ranking #17 of 355 places in Alaska. Median household income is $109,718, the median home is worth $354,400 and median gross rent runs $1,657 a month. Looking for the Bethel Alaska ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Bethel, AK: 99559.

Population: 6,313Bethel city residents
Median household income: $109,718Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $354,400Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $1,657Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 30.9 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 44.2%Owner-occupied households

Bethel ZIP codes (Alaska)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Bethel.

The Bethel AK ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

99559

What the numbers mean in Bethel city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Bethel city median would spend about 18.1% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 3.2× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 12.8% of residents and 44.2% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Bethel city, AK in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Bethel city is a mid-size town in Alaska, with 6,313 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #17 of 355 ranked by population — larger than 95% of them. The median age here is 30.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Bethel city earn a median of $109,718 a year, 39.7% above the national figure of $78,538 and 35% above the $81,250 median for the 73 Alaska cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 12.8% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Bethel city is valued at $354,400, 16.8% above the national figure and 16% above the $305,100 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,657 a month, 17.9% above the national figure, or roughly $19,884 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 18.1% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.2×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 44.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Median income runs above the national figure while poverty also runs above it — a split distribution, not a uniformly comfortable place. Averages hide that; the two numbers together do not.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Compare with nearby places

Places of similar size in Alaska.

More Alaska coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Bethel city?: Bethel city has 6,313 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #17 of 355 in Alaska.
What is the median household income in Bethel city?: Median household income in Bethel city is $109,718 a year, 39.7% above the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Bethel city?: Median gross rent is $1,657 a month and the median home value is $354,400, so rent absorbs about 18.1% of median household income.
Is Bethel city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 3.2× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Bethel city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 18.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Bethel city data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.