Fairbanks, AK — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

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Fairbanks North Star Borough · Fairbanks · population 31,732

First-time buyersShrinking
Fairbanks, AK
Image: Wikipedia · Fairbanks, Alaska
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
56
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Fairbanks stands

At or near all-time high. population shrinking 0.6% per year.

Median home $298,966
1-year +1.2%
5-yr CAGR +1.6%
vs 5-yr peak -0.1%
Population -0.6%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-08$299k$211k$244k$278k$311k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
84/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,739/mo$1,460$1,653$1,846202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent102112100202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 14.3
Buy

At a 14.3 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Fairbanks on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 14.3 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
56 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
45 · w22%
Distance from peak
90 · w18%
Population growth
36 · w16%
Rent YoY
63 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
45 · w10%
Long thesis

Fairbanks has held up across the cycle: home values at $298,966 with +1.6% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Fairbanks's population is shrinking 0.6% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.

About Fairbanks

Fairbanks is a city in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, with an estimated population of 31,732. The population has contracted 0.6% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Fairbanks is $298,966 as of 2026-04, up 1.2% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.6% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Fairbanks average $1,739 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+2.7%). The composite momentum score is 56 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -0.1% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
○The data is the data: Fairbanks has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Flat or shrinking population: -0.6% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Fairbanks (Wikipedia)

Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the interior region of Alaska and the second most populous in the state. The 2020 census put the population of the city proper at 32,515 and the population of the Fairbanks North Star Borough at 95,655, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in Alaska, after Anchorage. The Metropolitan Statistical Area encompasses all of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and is the northernmost metropolitan statistical area in the United States, located 196 miles by road south of the Arctic Circle.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Fairbanks North Star Borough right now.

NWS active alerts (AK)Alaska Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Fairbanks North Star Borough routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Fairbanks

1 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Bjerremark$237,039+5.1%

Cities like Fairbanks

Juneau, AK63 · RisingAnchorage, AK65 · RisingKenai, AK69 · RisingSitka, AK34 · Cooling

Run the numbers for Fairbanks

ToolCan I afford Fairbanks?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Fairbanks rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Fairbanks to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolFairbanks cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
25° / 10°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
67° / 50°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
125
~34% of year
Annual precip
22″ rain
75″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Moderate
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Fairbanks listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Fairbanks area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
80%
Very humid climate
Median household income
$86,400
Alaska state median
Top industries (state-level)
Oil & GasTourismGovernment

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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