# Alaska statistical areas

The U.S. State of Alaska currently has four statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On July 21, 2023, the OMB delineated two metropolitan statistical areas and two micropolitan statistical areas in Alaska. The most populous of these statistical areas is the Anchorage, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area, centered on the state's largest city of Anchorage.

## Background

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated more than 1,000 statistical areas for the United States and Puerto Rico. These statistical areas are important geographic delineations of population clusters used by the OMB, the United States Census Bureau, planning organizations, and federal, state, and local government entities.
The OMB defines a core-based statistical area (commonly referred to as a CBSA) as the county or counties (or county-equivalents) surrounding at least one densely-settled core of at least 10,000 population, "plus adjacent counties having a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured through commuting ties with the counties containing the core". The OMB further divides core-based statistical areas based on population into metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for those with at least 50,000 and micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) for those with 10,000 to 49,999 people.
The OMB defines a combined statistical area (CSA) as two or more adjacent core-based statistical areas where the employment interchange rate (% commuting from A to B plus % commuting from B to A) is at least 15%. The primary statistical areas (PSAs) include all combined statistical areas and any core-based statistical area that is not a constituent of a combined statistical area.

## Table

The four United States statistical areas, 19 organized boroughs and 11 census areas of the State of Alaska :
| Core-based statistical area | 2023 population (est.) | County-equivalent | 2023 population (est.) |
| Anchorage, AK MSA | 401,314 | Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska | 286,075 |
| Anchorage, AK MSA | 401,314 | Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska | 115,239 |
| Fairbanks-College, AK MSA | 94,840 | Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska | 94,840 |
| Juneau, AK μSA | 31,555 | City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska | 31,555 |
| Ketchikan, AK μSA | 13,738 | Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska | 13,738 |
| none | none | Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska | 61,223 |
| none | none | Bethel Census Area, Alaska | 18,224 |
| none | none | Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska | 12,565 |
| none | none | North Slope Borough, Alaska | 10,603 |
| none | none | Nome Census Area, Alaska | 9,763 |
| none | none | City and Borough of Sitka, Alaska | 8,282 |
| none | none | Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska | 8,001 |
| none | none | Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska | 7,361 |
| none | none | Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska | 7,077 |
| none | none | Chugach Census Area, Alaska | 6,769 |
| none | none | Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska | 5,696 |
| none | none | Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska | 5,160 |
| none | none | Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska | 5,129 |
| none | none | Dillingham Census Area, Alaska | 4,607 |
| none | none | Aleutians East Borough, Alaska | 3,461 |
| none | none | Petersburg Borough, Alaska | 3,427 |
| none | none | Copper River Census Area, Alaska | 2,674 |
| none | none | Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska | 2,262 |
| none | none | Haines Borough, Alaska | 2,070 |
| none | none | Wrangell City and Borough, Alaska | 2,064 |
| none | none | Denali Borough, Alaska | 1,584 |
| none | none | Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska | 1,331 |
| none | none | Municipality of Skagway, Alaska | 1,095 |
| none | none | Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska | 844 |
| none | none | Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska | 687 |
| State of Alaska | State of Alaska | State of Alaska | 733,406 |

## Core-based statistical areas

The following table provides the in-state population ranking of each CBSA along with its rate of population change over time.
The four core-based statistical areas of the State of Alaska :
| 2023 rank | Core-based statistical area | Population | Population | Population | Population | Population |
| 2023 rank | Core-based statistical area | 2023 estimate | Change | 2020 Census | Change | 2010 Census |
| 1 | Anchorage, AK MSA | 401,314 | +0.75% | 398,328 | +4.60% | 380,821 |
| 2 | Fairbanks-College, AK MSA | 94,840 | −0.85% | 95,655 | −1.97% | 97,581 |
| 3 | Juneau, AK μSA | 31,555 | −2.17% | 32,255 | +3.13% | 31,275 |
| 4 | Ketchikan, AK μSA | 13,738 | −1.51% | 13,948 | +3.49% | 13,477 |