Another notable thing is that Big Lake is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Big Lake has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Big Lake has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Big Lake than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Big Lake may be for you.
Big Lake is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.
One downside of living in Big Lake is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Big Lake, the average commute to work is 36.03 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
As is often the case in a small town, Big Lake doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The education level of Big Lake citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 17.41% of adults 25 and older in Big Lake have a college degree.
The per capita income in Big Lake in 2022 was $43,537, 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 $174,148 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 German, Irish, English, Norwegian, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Big Lake is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
