What is the population of Fairbanks city?

Fairbanks city has 32,242 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #2 of 355 in Alaska.

What is the median household income in Fairbanks city?

Median household income in Fairbanks city is $72,077 a year, 8.2% below the national figure of $78,538.

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

Median gross rent is $1,470 a month and the median home value is $255,700, so rent absorbs about 24.5% of median household income.

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

Homes cost about 3.5× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Fairbanks city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 24.5% 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 24230

Fairbanks, AK population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Fairbanks, Alaska (Fairbanks, AK — Census place “Fairbanks city”) is 32,242 residents, ranking #2 of 355 places in Alaska. Median household income is $72,077, the median home is worth $255,700 and median gross rent runs $1,470 a month. Looking for the Fairbanks Alaska ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Fairbanks, AK: 99703.

Population: 32,242Fairbanks city residents
Median household income: $72,077Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $255,700Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $1,470Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 28.6 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 40.5%Owner-occupied households

Fairbanks ZIP codes (Alaska)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Fairbanks.

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

99703

What the numbers mean in Fairbanks city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Fairbanks city median would spend about 24.5% 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 3.5× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 9.6% of residents and 40.5% of households own their home.

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

Fairbanks city, AK in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Fairbanks city is a small city in Alaska, with 32,242 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #2 of 355 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 28.6 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 Fairbanks city earn a median of $72,077 a year, 8.2% below the national figure of $78,538 and 11% below the $81,250 median for the 73 Alaska cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 9.6% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Fairbanks city is valued at $255,700, 15.7% below the national figure and 16% below the $305,100 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,470 a month, 4.6% above the national figure, or roughly $17,640 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 24.5% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.5×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 40.5% 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.

A median age of 28.6 means a large student or early-career population; income medians in places like this understate household resources, since many residents are supported from outside the address.

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 Fairbanks city?: Fairbanks city has 32,242 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #2 of 355 in Alaska.
What is the median household income in Fairbanks city?: Median household income in Fairbanks city is $72,077 a year, 8.2% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Fairbanks city?: Median gross rent is $1,470 a month and the median home value is $255,700, so rent absorbs about 24.5% of median household income.
Is Fairbanks city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 3.5× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Fairbanks city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 24.5% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Fairbanks 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.