About one in nine people in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, lives below the poverty line
In Kenai Peninsula Borough, 10.6% of people lived below the poverty line. That is lower than in 73% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 67% of U.S. counties.
What drives Kenai Peninsula Borough's score
In Kenai Peninsula Borough, jobs are the highest-scoring part, at 77.7. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 15.6. Bankruptcy filings ran at 22.9 per 100,000 people (2025), lower than in 98% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Kenai Peninsula Borough: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Even so, Kenai Peninsula Borough is worse off than most counties on unemployment rate, average over the latest year (5.0%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026) and people without health insurance (11.5%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 77.7 of 100
Jobs
Biggest factorUnemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year5.0% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202681st percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working25.0% · 2020 to 202473rd percentile
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- 47.5 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent18.2% · 2020 to 202450th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income20.2% · fiscal year 202744th percentile
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- 41.2 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line10.6% · 202427th percentile
- Children below the poverty line12.3% · 202424th percentile
- People with a disability17.3% · 2020 to 202461st percentile
- People without health insurance11.5% · 2020 to 202475th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$82,655 · 202416th percentile
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- 16.7 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind3.5% · August 202518th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind3.3% · August 202520th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score29.6% · second quarter of 202611th percentile
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- 15.6 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector17.8% · August 202529th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people22.9 · 20251st percentile
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Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Sep 2026.
Where the money in Kenai Peninsula Borough comes from
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Kenai Peninsula Borough, 20.0% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Kenai Peninsula Borough
Alaska
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Kenai Peninsula Borough, benefit checks' share of income has grown since 1979, reaching 24.7% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than twice as much as benefit checks
In Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, benefit checks' share of income rose from 1979 to 2024, reaching 24.7%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Kenai Peninsula Borough getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise in the last span, from 8.6% in 2023 to 9.6% in 2024.
The share of households in Kenai Peninsula Borough getting SNAP food aid rose from 2009 to 2024, reaching 9.6%
High on the chart: 9.7% in 2019. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska.
How Kenai Peninsula Borough has changed
Kenai Peninsula Borough's population had its largest rise, from 23,524 in 1979 to 36,036 in 1984.
Kenai Peninsula Borough's population more than doubled from 1979 to 2024, reaching 61,259, with no dip in any year shown
Smallest rise: 2014 to 2019, reaching 58,452. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Kenai Peninsula Borough rose by more than half to 21,722, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2020 to 2025, reaching 21,722. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 12.0% | 2025 5.3% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 8.7% | 2024 10.6% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $36,507 | 2024 $82,655 |
The table uses 5.3% for 2025; the score uses 5.0% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Kenai Peninsula Borough's history
1964
Kenai Peninsula Borough was incorporated on January 1, 1964. Wikipedia
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 58,799, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1986
17 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Kenai Peninsula Borough, 7 of them for flooding. FEMA
Kenai Peninsula Borough beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Kenai Peninsula Borough, two score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Kenai Peninsula Borough ranks 3rd of the seven; Bethel Census Area is highest, at 37.6%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel Census Area, AK | 65 | 28.4% | 37.6% |
| Lake and Peninsula Borough, AK | 38 | 20.2% | 25.4% |
| Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK | 32 | 10.6% | 24.7% |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK | 26 | 9.0% | 18.8% |
| Anchorage Municipality, AK | 19 | 8.7% | 17.8% |
| Chugach Census Area, AK | 13 | 7.9% | 16.3% |
| Kodiak Island Borough, AK | 10 | 8.3% | 19.6% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Kenai Peninsula Borough the poorest county in Alaska?
No, Kenai Peninsula Borough's poverty rate was 10.6% in 2024, 18th highest of 30 in Alaska (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Kusilvak Census Area, at 34.9%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Kenai Peninsula Borough ranks 13th of 30 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Kenai Peninsula Borough
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC)
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Download the CSV for Kenai Peninsula Borough · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Kenai Peninsula Borough comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.