Census-designated place · Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska

Farm Loop, Alaska

Farm Loop is a census-designated place in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, part of the Anchorage, AK metro area. It has 2,894 residents. Farm Loop, Alaska has a quality-of-life score of 55 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,117 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Alaska it ranks #33 of 71 cities and towns. It ranks best on median Air Quality Index (low), drought exposure (low) and high school diploma or higher (high). It ranks worst on distance to an Amtrak station (high), firearm deaths (high) and suicide rate (high).

55Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,117 of 15,651 cities and towns
Alaska: #33 of 71 in AK
Population: 2,894 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 317.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 0225000

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 66 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety10#14,004/15,637
Economy78#3,458/15,631
Housing76#3,580/14,977
Health49#7,956/15,609
Healthcare30#10,934/15,650
Environment—
Education74#4,018/15,649
Infrastructure82#2,791/15,650
Community45#8,620/15,651
Leisure & amenities23#12,081/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Farm Loop, Alaska ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Matanuska-Susitna Borough value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Median Air Quality Index · low9
99/100Alaska 232025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMatanuska-Susitna Borough value
Drought exposure · low0%
98/100Alaska 0%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMatanuska-Susitna Borough value
High school diploma or higher · high97.2%
96/100Alaska 93.6%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Broadband subscriptions · high98.0%
96/100Alaska 91.9%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.372
89/100Alaska 0.433United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Child poverty rate · low6.3%
88/100Alaska 12.9%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty

Weaknesses

Distance to an Amtrak station · high1,322 mi
1/100Alaska 1,315 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMatanuska-Susitna Borough value
Firearm deaths · high31.2 /100k
2/100Alaska 26.2 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMatanuska-Susitna Borough value
Suicide rate · high33.0 /100k
2/100Alaska 30.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMatanuska-Susitna Borough value
Flu vaccinations · low23.0%
2/100Alaska 29.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMatanuska-Susitna Borough value
Grocery stores · low0.6 /10k
3/100Alaska 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMatanuska-Susitna Borough value
Pharmacies · low0.3 /10k
3/100Alaska 0.6 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMatanuska-Susitna Borough value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
1,170 (2015-2019) → 2,894 (2020-2024)
+147%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
24.4% (2015-2019) → 56.0% (2020-2024)
+32 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
21.9% (2015-2019) → 43.9% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
89.4% (2015-2019) → 98.0% (2020-2024)
+8.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$89,000 (2015-2019) → $119,375 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
13.9% (2015-2019) → 8.4% (2020-2024)
−5.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Farm Loop, Alaska improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Household income+34%$89,000 → $119,375
Broadband+8.5 points89.4% → 98.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Farm Loop, Alaska between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.9 min2015-2019	28.5 min2020-2024	−0.5 min	Within the margin of error	53%
Bachelor's degree or higher	32.0%2015-2019	37.4%2020-2024	+5.4 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Broadband subscriptions	89.4%2015-2019	98.0%2020-2024	+8.5 points	Improved	52%
Effective property tax rate	0.88%2015-2019	0.83%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	24%
High school diploma or higher	93.0%2015-2019	97.2%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	3.6×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	38%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4052015-2019	0.3722020-2024	−0.033	Within the margin of error	76%
Median household income	$89,0002015-2019	$119,3752020-2024	+34%	Improved	64%
Poverty rate	5.5%2015-2019	5.7%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Rent as share of income	21.9%2015-2019	43.9%2020-2024	+22 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.9%2015-2019	8.4%2020-2024	−5.5 points	Within the margin of error	88%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Farm Loop, Alaska five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Farm Loop, Alaska in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Farm Loop, Alaska itself moved −3.7 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,894 residents (±393)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

984 households (±119)

Farm Loop, Alaska
Alaska share

Under $25k6.3%†62
$25k–50k15%†149
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

984 households (±119)

Farm Loop, Alaska
Alaska share

Own88%869
Rent12%†115

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,313 workers (±228)

Farm Loop, Alaska
Alaska share

Drive alone69%909
Carpool11%†148
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Anchorage, AK

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the county holding most of Farm Loop's residents.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough has 2,822 employer establishments, 245 for every 10,000 residents (0.99× the US rate of 248; 0.81× Alaska's), with 23,971 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,028. The Census Bureau also counts 9,365 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,822; 9,365 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 245; US 248 · Alaska 302
Paid employees: 23,971
Average annual pay: $57,028; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Matanuska-Susitna Borough by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	368	31.9	2.06×More than typical	1,650	$87,131	693
Ambulatory health care services	280	24.3	1.17×About typical	2,389	$77,492	300
Construction of buildings	181	15.7	2.08×More than typical	1,283	$90,944	391
Restaurants and other eating places	169	14.7	0.80×Fewer than typical	2,495	$24,430	39
Offices of other health practitioners	124	10.8	1.77×More than typical	658	$55,419	197
Lessors of real estate	121	10.5	0.85×About typical	264	$43,386	831
Building equipment contractors	114	9.9	1.64×More than typical	727	$77,857	84
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	98	8.5	2.70×More than typical	271	$101,542	113
Building finishing contractors	94	8.2	2.15×More than typical	378	$56,172	247
Services to buildings and dwellings	94	8.2	1.21×About typical	455	$43,312	390
Real estate agents and brokers	71	6.2	1.27×More than typical	107	$47,028	258
Automotive repair and maintenance	65	5.6	1.12×About typical	482	$51,720	129

Rank places for an industry Open Matanuska-Susitna Borough

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 115,188 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $314K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Farm Loop, Alaska: $108 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $314K; +43% vs FY2025
Per resident: $108; US $1,994
Sole-source: 34%; US 30%
Single offer: 3.2%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management$146.7K47%
Department of the Navy$81.7K26%
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration$58K18%
Office of the Secretary$10.4K3.3%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$9,1622.9%
National Park Service$6,8302.2%
Defense Logistics Agency$8720.3%
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service$5250.2%

Top recipients

CHUGACH TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL SOLUTIONS, LLC$146.7K47%
TRIVERUS LLC$82.6K26%
INSTRUMENTAL SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES, INC$31.1K9.9%
AHTNA BUILDERS, LLC$26.8K8.5%
PORT GRAHAM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION$9,1622.9%

Spending by fiscal year

438.3KFY2017
96.4KFY2018
254.8KFY2019
577.3KFY2020
467.1KFY2021
293.5KFY2022
169.6KFY2023
177.9K

Top industries (NAICS)

Technical and trade schools · 6115$146.7K47%
Ship and boat building · 3366$81.7K26%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$33.8K11%
Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$26.5K8.4%
Satellite telecommunications · 5174$8,7072.8%
Software publishers · 5112$7,284

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Farm Loop, Alaska, so they do not add up across cities.

Farm Loop, Alaska's figures are part of those of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK ($33.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.9% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Farm Loop is mostly in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

See federal money in Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Farm Loop, Alaska is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Nicholas J. Begich IIIR-AK · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 0.9%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough42100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Anchorage, AK67

Other cities and towns in Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0225000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends