Alaska vs California
Twenty measures that tend to decide a move, side by side. Every figure is the same one the map shows, from the same source.
Alaska comes out ahead on 11 of them and California on 3, but that tally is not a recommendation: it weighs a difference in class size the same as a difference in house price. Read the rows that matter to you.
MeasureAlaskaCalifornia
Home price$400,659$775,549
Rent paid$1,397$2,042
Cost of living124.9142.3
Income$95,665$100,149
Property tax0.94%0.70%
Income tax0.00%13.30%
Sales tax1.82%9.03%
Electric bill$157$161
Temperature36.4°F62.7°F
Snowfall46.0 in4.3 in
Precipitation43.6 in18.4 in
Students per teacher19.221.9
Bachelor's or higher32.8%38.1%
Crime rate724486
Commute19.8 min29.7 min
Unemployment4.4%5.2%
Population change+0.5%-0.5%
Wildfire risk74.496.8
Flood risk18.898.5
Bold marks the better figure where a measure has a better direction. Weather, snowfall and rainfall are shown plain, because warmer is not better — it is a preference.