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Bethel Census Area · Alaska

ZIP code 99503

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 99503 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
12,944

ZCTA residents

Median income
$76,888

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$316,700

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
0%

Combined state + local

Quick answer

ZIP 99503 sits in Bethel Census Area, Alaska and is home to 12,944 people. Median household income is $76,888, the median home is worth $316,700 and median gross rent is $1,185. 31.7% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 0% combined.

County
Bethel Census Area

FIPS 02050

State
Alaska (AK)

245 ZIPs covered

Area codes
907

NANPA codes serving this area

Metro area
Anchorage

Rate jurisdiction used for tax

The numbers for 99503

American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.

Population
12,944ZIP 99503 residents
Median household income
$76,888Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$316,700Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
$1,185Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
37 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
31.7%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 99503 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 99503 is a mid-size town in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, with 12,944 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #20 of 245 ranked by population — larger than 92% of them. The median age here is 37 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. 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 ZIP 99503 earn a median of $76,888 a year, 2.1% below the national figure of $78,538. 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 14.1% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 99503 is valued at $316,700, 4.4% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,185 a month, 15.7% below the national figure, or roughly $14,220 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 18.5% 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 4.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 31.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. 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.

Reading ZIP 99503 in context

How 99503 sits inside Bethel Census Area and Alaska.

ZIP 99503 is tabulated inside Bethel Census Area, Alaska, one of 27 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 245 across Alaska. This is a mid-sized suburban ZIP inside a county that is split across many delivery areas. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 99503 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 99503 reports a median household income of $76,888, 56% above the $49,167 county median, and 22% above the $63,203 typical AK ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $316,700, 244% above the county figure and 85% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,185 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

A taxable purchase made inside 99503 carries 0% at the register, assembled from the Anchorage jurisdiction stack: the Alaska state rate plus every county, municipal and special district levy that reaches this address. Because those district boundaries were drawn for schools, transit and hospital funding rather than for mail delivery, two addresses inside 99503 can legitimately fall under different totals — the rate shown here is the one that applies to the dominant jurisdiction.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 99503 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.

Sales tax in 99503

What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.

Rate applied
0%Anchorage jurisdiction stack
Tax on $100
$0Rounded to the dollar
Tax on $1,000
$0Before any exemptions

This ZIP falls inside the Anchorage rate area, so state, county, city and district levies are published here as a full stack.

Affordability in this ZIP

Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.

Rent burden
18%Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
4.1×Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$1,643/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
14.1%Residents below poverty line

A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.

How 99503 compares

ZIP 99503 against the median ZIP in Bethel Census Area and across Alaska.

MeasureZIP 99503County medianState medianvs state
Median household income$76,888$49,167$63,203+22%
Median home value$316,700$92,150$170,800+85%
Median gross rent$1,185$790$1,040+14%
Population12,944461458+2726%

Medians are computed across the 27 ZIP areas in Bethel Census Area and the 245 ZIP areas in Alaska.

Statewide rank

Where this ZIP places among all 245 Alaska ZIP areas.

Income

richer than 67% of 210 state ZIPs

#69
Home value

above 83% of 185 state ZIPs

#32
Population

larger than 92% of 245 state ZIPs

#20

Comparable ZIP codes

Alaska ZIP areas with almost the same household income.

ZIPCountyIncomeHome valueRent
99833Petersburg Borough$77,026$301,300$1,208
99603Kenai Peninsula Borough$76,368$345,600$1,236
99761Northwest Arctic Borough$77,500$156,300$850
99612Aleutians East Borough$78,125$110,900$909
99573Copper River Census Area$75,583$259,200$946
99840Skagway Municipality$78,594$430,000$1,228

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Bethel Census Area.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Bethel Census Area, Alaska.

ZIP 99503 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 99503?
ZIP 99503 lies mostly in Bethel Census Area, Alaska. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
What sales tax do I pay in 99503?
Purchases are taxed at 0% combined, built from the Anchorage jurisdiction stack.
Is 99503 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs $1,185 a month, about 18% of median household income, and the median home is worth $316,700 — +85% against the typical Alaska ZIP.
Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.

Related pages for this area.

Sources & transparency

Every figure on this page is a published estimate for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 99503, except the affordability ratios and mortgage estimate, which we derive from those medians and label as estimates.

Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.