Though it may be of little solace to people who struggle to find available housing, Wrangell continues to rank among the lowest-cost communities in the state for apartment rents.
This month’s Alaska Economic Trends magazine, published by the Alaska Department of Labor, shows the median monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment — utilities included — at $1,081 in Wrangell and Petersburg, which are lumped together for the annual survey.
That’s the lowest of the 11 areas covered in the report. The Kodiak Island Borough topped the survey at $1,713 a month.
Wrangell has been at the bottom for costs, or one step above, going back at least 20 years.
“Median monthly rent” is the number in the middle of the survey results, with half of the rents above the number and half below.
Wrangell’s position near the bottom in price is not surprising to Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director. The rents in town match what people can afford, she said, noting that the community has a much lower percentage of high-paying jobs than Anchorage, Juneau or Fairbanks, where the median rents for a two-bedroom apartment range around $1,550 to $1,600 a month.
Apartments in Wrangell are maybe a little dated compared to newer construction projects in bigger cities, she said, but they are livable and affordable. The bigger issue, Thomas said, is the shortage of new multi-family units to add to the housing supply.
The Department of Labor’s Division of Research and Analysis compiles its annual listing of rental prices statewide based on surveys completed by landlords, not tenants, explained Dan Robinson, division chief.
“We don’t know who ignores us or why they ignore us,” he said of landlords who decline to participate in the survey.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough was one notch above Wrangell from the bottom in this spring’s survey, at $1,152 a month for a two-bedroom apartment, utilities included.
The $1,081 median for Wrangell-Petersburg this spring is a small increase over last year’s number of $1,055, when the Southeast towns also ranked lowest in the state. In 2021, it was $950, according to the Labor Department survey.
Going back to 2003, the Kenai Peninsula Borough was at the bottom at $671, with Wrangell next at $682 a month.
Wrangell’s ranking in the state survey matches up with numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, which shows $966 a month as the median rent in 2022 in the community (including utilities, same as the state counts the number). The $966 applies to all rental units, regardless of size, while the state’s number covers only two-bedroom units.
The Census Bureau reports the median rent statewide was $1,329 a month in 2022.
Wrangell’s lower rental costs align with the town’s economic data, which shows the median household income in the community at $61,000 in 2022. The statewide median household income was more than $88,000 that year, according to the Census Bureau.
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