Big Lake is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Alaska. With a population of 3,833 people and two associated neighborhoods, Big Lake is the 20th largest community in Alaska.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 25.20% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Another notable thing is that Big Lake is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Big Lake’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.

The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Big Lake has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Big Lake a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

One of the nice things about Big Lake is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Big Lake, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 35.83 minutes every day commuting to work.

Being a small town, Big Lake does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The percentage of adults in Big Lake who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 19.60% of the adults in Big Lake have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Big Lake in 2022 was $41,948, which is middle income relative to Alaska, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $167,792 for a family of four. However, Big Lake contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Big Lake is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Big Lake home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Big Lake residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Big Lake include Irish, German, English, Scots-Irish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Big Lake is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.