About one in 12 people in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, lives below the poverty line
In Ketchikan Gateway Borough, 8.2% of people lived below the poverty line. That is lower than in 90% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 79% of U.S. counties.
What drives Ketchikan Gateway Borough's score
In Ketchikan Gateway Borough, housing costs are the highest-scoring part, at 63.1. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 18.2. Bankruptcy filings ran at 43.7 per 100,000 people (2025), lower than in 92% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Ketchikan Gateway 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.
Ketchikan Gateway Borough isn't among the worst-off quarter of U.S. counties on any measure.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 63.1 of 100
Housing costs
Biggest factorRenters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent19.8% · 2020 to 202460th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income22.4% · fiscal year 202766th percentile
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- 38.7 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.0% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202651st percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working16.9% · 2020 to 202426th percentile
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- 24.7 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line8.2% · 20249th percentile
- Children below the poverty line10.5% · 202415th percentile
- People with a disability13.8% · 2020 to 202429th percentile
- People without health insurance9.2% · 2020 to 202460th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$92,939 · 20248th percentile
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- 19.5 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind4.0% · August 202525th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind0.9% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- People with a subprime credit score34.8% · second quarter of 202628th percentile
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- 18.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector17.7% · August 202529th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people43.7 · 20257th 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 Ketchikan Gateway 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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough, 17.7% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Ketchikan Gateway Borough
Alaska
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
Benefit checks' share of income in Ketchikan Gateway Borough rose most in two steps: 5.2% in 1969 to 8.3% in 1974; 11.3% in 1994 to 14.4% in 1999.
In Ketchikan Gateway Borough, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about four times its 1969 level, reaching 20.0% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about three times as much as benefit checks
In Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, benefit checks' share of income grew to about four times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 20.0%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Ketchikan Gateway Borough getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2017 and has since fallen by about half
Biggest drop: 2021 to 2022, reaching 9.8%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska.
How Ketchikan Gateway Borough has changed
Ketchikan Gateway Borough's population rose 38% from 1969 to 2024, with most of the change between 1979 and 1984
High on the chart: 14,688 in 1994. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska.
The number of jobs located in Ketchikan Gateway Borough had its largest drop, from 7,321 in 2015 to 6,187 in 2020.
The number of jobs located in Ketchikan Gateway Borough fell 7% from 1990 to 2025, with its low point on the chart in 2020
Low on the chart: 6,187 in 2020. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 7.9% | 2025 4.2% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 6.8% | 2024 8.2% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $42,443 | 2024 $92,939 |
The table uses 4.2% for 2025; the score uses 4.0% 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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough's history
1963
Incorporated September 6, 1963. Wikipedia
2000
The county's largest recorded population was the 2000 Census count of 14,070. The 2020 Census counted 13,948, 99% of the peak. Census Bureau
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Since 2020
3 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Ketchikan Gateway Borough. FEMA
Ketchikan Gateway Borough beside its neighbors
All two counties that border Ketchikan Gateway Borough score higher than it does. Of the group, Ketchikan Gateway Borough gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Wrangell City and Borough gets the largest, at 33.2%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, AK | 57 | 16.9% | 28.2% |
| Wrangell City and Borough, AK | 27 | 11.1% | 33.2% |
| Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK | 20 | 8.2% | 20.0% |
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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough the poorest county in Alaska?
No, Ketchikan Gateway Borough's poverty rate was 8.2% in 2024, 25th 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, Ketchikan Gateway Borough ranks 21st of 30 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Ketchikan Gateway 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 Ketchikan Gateway 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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.