Alaska State Profile

The maps on this page explore the American Community Survey 5-year data (Table S1810) on disability by county.

The ACS does not directly measure disability. Instead, it uses a set of disability indicator questions related to difficulty and functional impairment to identify individuals who may experience a disability. If a respondent can answer “yes” to any disability question they are classified as having a disability.

Disability Rates: Alaska

map of AK showing disability rate by county. Text description on page.

This map of the state of Alaska shows general rates of disability by borough. Disability rates are broken into four levels: 7.4 to 12.8%, 12.9 to 15.5%, 15.6 to 18.8%, and 18.9 to 34.2%.

The highest rates of disability are found in the areas of the state with higher populations. Prince of Wales-Hyder has the highest rate, at 18.9 to 34.2%. Wrangell, Petersburg, Hoonah-Angoon, and Yukon-Koyukuk have the second-highest rates, of 15.6 to 18.8%. Southeast Fairbanks, Lake 7 Peninsula, Bristol Bay, Kodiak Island, Kenai Peninsula, Haines, and Ketchikan Gateway have rates of 12.9 to 15.5%. Sitka, Petersburg, Skagway, Yakutat, Valdez-Cordova, Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna, Denali, Fairbanks North Star, Dillingham, Bethel, Kusilvak, Nome, Northwest Arctic, North Slope, Aleutians West and Aleutians East have the lowest rates, of 7.4 to 12.8%.

Only the areas around the cities of Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Ketchikan are considered metropolitan or micropolitan using OMB County Designations. The rest of the state is classified as noncore, or rural.  

In the upper corner there is an inset map of the United States showing how overall general disability rates in Alaska compare to other states. Overall, Alaska is one of the states with the lowest rates of disability. 

 Map produced July 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version. 
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

Map of AK showing rates of females with disability. Text description on page.This map of the state of Alaska shows disability rate among females by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 6.6 to 9.8%, 9.9 to 10.7%, 10.8 to 13.7%, and 13.8 to 17.8%.

Overall, there are higher rates of females with disabilities in central and south-eastern boroughs. Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Of the five cities, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau are in boroughs with the second-lowest rate, Kodiak is in a borough with the second-highest rate, and Ketchikan is in a borough with the highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


 Map of AK showing rates of disability among males. Text description on page. This map of the state of Alaska shows disability rate among males by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 7.6 to 11.1%, 11.2 to 13.7%, 13.8 to 16.2%, and 16.3 to 22.0%.

Overall, there are higher rates of males with disabilities in central, south-eastern and south-western boroughs.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Of the five cities, Juneau is in a borough with the lowest rate, Fairbanks, and Anchorage are in boroughs with the second-lowest rate, and Kodiak and Ketchikan are in boroughs with the second-highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


 Map of AK showing rates of veterans with disability. Text description on page.This map of the state of Alaska shows rates of disability among veterans aged 18 and older by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 1.8 to 11.6%, 11.7 to 17.1%, 17.2 to 22.1%, and 22.2 to 34.9%.  

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall, eastern and south-western boroughs have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Kodiak is in a borough with the lowest rate, Anchorage and Fairbanks are in boroughs with the second-lowest, and Juneau and Ketchikan are in boroughs with the second-highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

Map of AK showing rates of people with disabilities in poverty. Text description on page.

This map of the state of Alaska shows poverty rates among people with disabilities of all ages by borough. Poverty rates are broken into four categories: 3.4 to 8.5%, 8.6 to 13.6%, 13.7 to 16.5%, and 16.6 to 28.5%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas.

Overall, central and western boroughs have the highest rates, as does the island borough where Kodiak is. Of the five cities, Fairbanks and Juneau are in boroughs with the second-lowest rate, Anchorage and Ketchikan are in boroughs with the second-highest rate, and Kodiak is in a borough with the highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

Employment: Alaska

This map explores American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table C18120) employment estimates by disability type. 

The ACS asks a set of disability indicator questions to determine disability. If a respondent can answer “yes” to any disability question they are classified as having a disability. The data below are for ages 18-64.


Map of AK showing rates of people with disability employed. Text description on page.

This map of Alaska shows employment rates among people with disabilities. The data includes people ages 18 to 64. Rates are broken into four categories: 25.0 to 38.3%, 38.4 to 47.7%, 47.8 to 52.1%, and 52.2 to 76.8%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall the boroughs are mixed, with scattered northern, central, southwestern and south eastern boroughs having the highest rates. Of the five cities, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, and Ketchikan are in boroughs with the second-highest rate, while Juneau is in a borough with the highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

This map explores American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table C18120) employment estimates by disability type. 

The ACS asks a set of disability indicator questions to determine disability. If a respondent can answer “yes” to any disability question they are classified as having a disability. The data below are for ages 18-64.


Map of AK showing rates of unemployment for people with disabilities. Text description on page.

This map of Alaska shows unemployment rates among people with disabilities. The data includes people ages 18 to 64. Rates are broken into four categories: 0.0 to 3.6%, 3.7 to 7.3%, 7.4 to 10.7%, 10.8 to 31.4%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall the boroughs are mixed, with some central, eastern, and southwestern boroughs having the highest rates . Of the five cities, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau are in boroughs with the second-lowest rate, and Ketchikan and Kodiak are in boroughs with the second-highest rate.

Note: It is important to consider unemployment rates in addition to out of the labor force rates. This map only shows people with disabilities who are in the labor force. 

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

 This map explores American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table C18120) employment estimates by disability type. 

The ACS asks a set of disability indicator questions to determine disability. If a respondent can answer “yes” to any disability question they are classified as having a disability. The data below are for ages 18-64.


Map of AK showing rates of people with disability out of labor force. Text description on page.

This map of Alaska shows out of labor force rates among people with disabilities. The data includes people ages 18 to 64. Rates are broken into four categories: 21.8 to 40.5%, 40.6 to 43.6%, 43.7 to 52.7%, and 52.8 to 72.9%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall, southcentral and southeastern boroughs have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Juneau is in a borough with the lowest rate, Ketchikan and Kodiak are in boroughs with the second-lowest rate, and Anchorage and Fairbanks are in boroughs with the second-highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

Disability Rates by Functional Limitation: Alaska

 This map explores the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table S1810) on disability estimates by county.

For vision difficulty the ACS asks if a respondent is blind or has serious difficulty seeing, even when wearing glasses. If they answer “yes” they are classified as having a vision difficulty. This data is for all ages.


Map of AK showing rates of vision difficulty by county. Text description on page.

This map of the state of Alaska shows rates of people with vision difficulty for ages 5 and older by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 0.0 to 0.2%, 0.21 to 0.5%, 0.51 to 0.6%, and 0.61 to 1.1%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall the corner boroughs – northwest, southwest, and southeast have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Fairbanks and Kodiak are in boroughs with the lowest rate, Anchorage is in a borough with the second-highest rate, and Juneau and Ketchikan are in boroughs with the highest rate.

Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data. 

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version. 
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

This map explores the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table S1810) on disability estimates by county.

For hearing difficulty the ACS asks if a respondent is deaf or has serious difficulty hearing. If they answer “yes” they are classified as having a hearing difficulty. This data is for all ages.


Map of AK showing rates of hearing impairment by county. Text description on page.

This map of the state of Alaska shows rates of people with hearing difficulty for ages 5 and older by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 0.0 to 0.6%, 0.7 to 0.8%, 0.9 to 1.1%, and 1.2 to 2.0%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall the central, southwest and southeast boroughs have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Fairbanks and Kodiak are in boroughs with the lowest rate, Anchorage and Juneau are in boroughs with the second-highest rate, and Ketchikan is in a borough with the highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

This map explores the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table S1810) on disability estimates by county.

For cognitive difficulty the ACS asks because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem, does the respondent have difficulty remembering, concentrating, or making decisions. If they answer “yes” they are classified as having a cognitive difficulty. This data is for ages 5 and up.


Map of AK showing rates of cognitive difficulty. Text description on page.

This map of the state of Alaska shows rates of people with cognitive difficulty by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 1.6 to 2.0%, 2.1 to 2.5%, 2.6 to 2.8%, and 2.9 to 4.3%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall the central, southwest and southeast boroughs have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Fairbanks and Anchorage are in boroughs with the lowest rate, Juneau and Kodiak in boroughs with the second-highest rate, and Ketchikan is in a borough with the highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

This map explores the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table S1810) on disability estimates by county.

For ambulatory (i.e. mobility) difficulty the ACS asks if a respondent has serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. If they answer “yes” they are classified as having a mobility difficulty. This data is for ages 5 and up.


 Map of AK showing rates of mobility difficulty. Text description on page.This map of the state of Alaska shows rates of people with mobility difficulty for all ages by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 3.2 to 4.8%, 4.9 to 5.8%, 5.9 to 7.1%, and 7.2 to 9.0%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall the central, southwest and southeast boroughs have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak and Juneau are in boroughs with the lowest rate, while Ketchikan is in a borough with the second-highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

This map explores the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table S1810) on disability estimates by county.

For self-care difficulty the ACS asks if a respondent has difficulty bathing or dressing. If they answer “yes” they are classified as having a self-care difficulty. This data is for ages 5 and up.


Map of AK showing rates of self-care difficulty. Text description on page.

This map of the state of Alaska shows rates of people with self care difficulty by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 1.2 to 2.7%, 2.8 to 3.4%, 3.5 to 4.6%, and 4.7 to 5.7%. 

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall south-central and south-eastern boroughs have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage are in boroughs with the second-highest rate, while Kodiak and Ketchikan are in boroughs with the highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.

This map explores the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data (Table S1810) on disability estimates by county.

For independent living difficulty the ACS asks because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem, does the respondent have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping. If they answer “yes” they are classified as having an independent living difficulty. This data is for ages 18 and up.


Map of AK showing rates of IL difficulty. Text description on page.

This map of the state of Alaska shows rates of independent living (IL) difficulty for people 18 years of age and older by borough. Rates are broken into four categories: 2.8 to 4.1%, 4.2 to 5.1%, 5.2 to 6.4%, and 6.5 to 10.4%.

Five urban areas (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kodiak, Juneau and Ketchikan) are labeled on the map to show if there are any differences between rates in urban compared to rural areas. Overall south-central and south-eastern boroughs have the highest rates. Of the five cities, Kodiak is in a borough with the lowest rate, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau are in boroughs with the second-lowest rate, and Ketchikan is in a borough with the highest rate.

 Map produced November 2019 based on 2013-2017 American Community Survey data.

 


  • Click on the map for a larger, downloadable version.
  • To browse or download the data used to make this map, use our Disability Data Lookup Tool.