Simmering frustration with Juneau’s increasingly high cost of living has come to a boil in the form of grassroots initiatives to lower it. This spring and summer, advocates collected enough signatures to include two ballot measures aimed at lowering household costs for residents in this fall’s local election.
Now, a recently released report from the state confirms some of the financial hurdles Juneau residents are facing.
“I can’t say we’re surprised with this report,” said Brian Holst, executive director of the Juneau Economic Development Council.
The state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development released a report in early July that focuses on the cost of living in Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks, compared to hundreds of U.S. cities.
Juneau is the most expensive city among the three in-state municipalities included in the study. The 2024 data shows Juneau had the second-highest grocery and health care costs overall and the third-highest prices for miscellaneous goods and services of the more than 250 cities that were surveyed. Holst said that makes sense to him.
“There are just some things about being in Alaska that make our costs higher,” he said. “We’re far from other markets, we’re isolated, transportation costs all contribute.”
According to the report, all three Alaska cities were among the top 25 most expensive cities surveyed. Fairbanks and Anchorage also ranked among the top spots for the highest health care and grocery costs.
The report also shows that housing costs are nearly half of most Alaska residents’ annual income. Juneau has had the highest average sale price for a single-family home in the state for the past two years.
Dan Robinson is an economist and authored the state’s report. He says there are some silver linings in the data when it comes to housing.
“Even though our housing costs are relatively high, housing has been inflating much faster in the U.S. than it has in Alaska,” he said.
He says over the past 10 years or so, the rise in housing costs in the state has slowed down, while other areas in the Lower 48 began picking up.
“They have been growing significantly faster than Alaska,” he said.
The high — and growing — cost of living in Juneau and across the state has triggered some policy responses in recent months. A new state law went into effect this month that raises the state’s minimum wage and implements a new sick-leave policy.
The two ballot initiatives set to appear in Juneau’s fall election ask voters whether to place a limit on the city’s property tax rate and remove local sales tax on food and utilities. Advocates for the initiatives say they will provide immediate financial relief to residents – if they’re approved by voters.
