Wrangell lost 147 working-age residents — defined as between the ages of 20 and 64 — from 2020 to 2024, according to the state’s latest numbers.
Meanwhile, the community’s senior citizen population — 65 and older — grew by 91 during the same period.
The loss of working-age residents likely is a big reason for the chronic labor shortage in town, particularly among Front Street businesses.
The town is getting older, with the median age increasing from 48 years old in 2020 to 49.1 years old in 2024, according to data released by the Alaska Department of Labor earlier this month.
Wrangell’s closest neighbor, Petersburg, also aged between 2020-2024, but still is younger than Wrangell, at a median age of 43.9 years old.
Median is the middle of the list, with the same number of residents above that age as below that age.
Overall, Wrangell lost about 100 residents between the 2020 census and the state’s estimated count for July 2024, declining to 2,030. A separate Department of Labor report in December estimated that unless something changes in the trajectory, the population will continue to decline, down to 1,988 in July 2025, 1,845 in 2030 and 1,349 in 2050.
The steady loss of population is based on recent numbers of new residents, people leaving town, birth rates and death rates — not any specific economic predictions.
For example, 120 Wrangell residents died between 2020 and 2024, while just 76 babies were born during the same period, according to the state’s numbers.
The town’s population also declined by 53 people due to net migration during that period — more residents moved out than new residents moved in.
Alaska has lost residents to net migration for 12 straight years, counting more people leaving the state than moving north, as job opportunities and life choices have directed more people away from Alaska.
Wrangell is not alone among Southeast communities in losing population. Juneau went from 32,255 in 2020 to 31,436 last year, according to the data from the Alaska Department of Labor. The state’s December report estimated that Juneau’s population could fall below 27,200 by 2050, with Southeast Alaska’s population falling 17% by 2050 — by far the most of any region in the state.
An earlier study showed that Juneau’s over-60-year-old population exceeded the under-20-year-old count for the first time in 2023.
Yakutat’s 2024 population of 637 was more than 9% lower than the 699 residents in 2021, by far the biggest drop by percentage in Southeast within the Labor Department’s four-year timeline.
The Juneau Empire contributed reporting for this story.
Reader Comments(0)