Many residents engage in trapping or making handicrafts for sale. Fire fighting for BLM employs members of the community in the summer. Nearly all families participate in subsistence activities throughout the year. Whitefish, moose, ducks, geese, spruce hens, rabbits, berries and roots are harvested. Transportation Tetlin is easily accessible by riverboat in the summer, but there is no road access.
Many residents own skiffs and snowmachines for hunting, fishing and hauling wood.
The village owns and maintains a 2,000' turf airstrip. Scheduled and charter flights are available from Tok, and freight is often delivered by plane. Goods are also brought from Tok by small barge during summer months. Climate Tetlin lies within the continental climatic zone, with cold winters and warm summers. In the winter, cold air settles in the valley and ice fog and smoke are common.