Seldovia is a tiny coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Alaska. With a population of 250 people and just one neighborhood, Seldovia is the 62nd largest community in Alaska.
Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Seldovia is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Seldovia is a city of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Seldovia who work in management occupations (27.96%), office and administrative support (15.05%), and teaching (11.83%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 25.93% 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 Seldovia is a major vacation destination. Much of the city’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, Seldovia’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
It is a fairly quiet city 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!) Seldovia 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. Seldovia has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Seldovia than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Seldovia may be for you.
One of the nice things about Seldovia 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.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 8.75 minutes getting to work every day.
As is often the case in a small city, Seldovia doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The overall education level of Seldovia citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 30.06% of adults in Seldovia have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.
The per capita income in Seldovia in 2022 was $49,596, which is wealthy relative to Alaska and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $198,384 for a family of four. However, Seldovia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Seldovia is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Seldovia home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Seldovia residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Seldovia include English, European, German, Norwegian, and Russian.
The most common language spoken in Seldovia is English. Other important languages spoken here include German/Yiddish and African languages.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 1 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 99.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods. is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
In addition, despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 58.7%, which is higher than 99.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 71.9% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
It used to be that most Americans lived on the farm, or otherwise made their living from the land, the forests, or the sea. With global trade and an economy increasingly based on providing services to one another, fewer people farm, fish or harvest timber now than at any time in American history. But according to NeighborhoodScout's leading analysis, the neighborhood stands apart from most American neighborhood due to the proportion of its residents still working in these fields. With 5.8% of the workforce so employed, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of such workers than 97.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.
We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 34.0% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
In the neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 15.8% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 97.4% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Also, if your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 3.9% of residents in the neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 97.1% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
For many reasons, is rated by NeighborhoodScout as one of the top 2.8% of ideal neighborhoods for first-time home buyers in the state of Alaska. Homes here are priced below median housing values in the state, yet the neighborhood has a track record according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive neighborhood home appreciation rates of above average real estate appreciation over the last five years compared to other AK neighborhoods, protecting your investment in your first home, while simultaneously making it less risky for your lender. Not only does this neighborhood stand out for combining price and home value stability or increases, it also is a neighborhood with a high quality resident population according exclusive data, meaning this is likely a good place to buy, live, and enjoy. While many first time home buyers focus purely on low cost and convenient location, which can risk your investment in your first home and put you in a less than desirable neighborhood, this neighborhood is a true standout for a lot of reasons, and definitely worth a look if you are a first time home buyer.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Native American and Russian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 25.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Native American ancestry and 3.5% have Russian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 16.2% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Seldovia are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 55.9% of the neighborhoods in America. With 11.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 54.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 48.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 22.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (14.0%), and 9.6% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 85.4% of households. Some people also speak Native American languages (16.2%).
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Seldovia, AK, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Native American (25.8%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (10.2%), and residents who report Irish roots (7.0%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (4.7%), along with some Russian ancestry residents (3.5%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (71.9% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (52.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (15.8%) and 9.3% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
