Best States for Off-Grid Living / Alaska

Alaska · off-grid scores, county by county · 2026

Which Alaska counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 29 Alaska counties we have scored, Anchorage Municipality scores highest at 70 and North Slope Borough lowest at 36. Alaska ranks 50th of 50 overall, at 46 out of 100 (Not recommended). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 9 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 29 counties · 260 spots of private rural land scored

Every scored county in Alaska, best score first

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

0% of Alaska's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Anchorage Municipality, Petersburg Borough and Wrangell City and Borough. The weakest are North Slope Borough, Aleutians East Borough and Southeast Fairbanks Census Area. Where the land falls short, it is most often on energy (sun, and heating and cooling needs) and building (slope, septic and land price).

What separates them

• Buildability: Anchorage Municipality scores 9 of 10, Aleutians East Borough 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
• Water: Anchorage Municipality scores 22 of 25, North Slope Borough 2. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
• Hazard: Petersburg Borough scores 15 of 15, Chugach Census Area 6. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
• Food: Anchorage Municipality scores 10 of 15, North Slope Borough 2. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
• Legal: Anchorage Municipality scores 18 of 20, Aleutians East Borough 10. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.
• Solar: Petersburg Borough scores 5 of 15, North Slope Borough 0. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.

The state's soft spot

Solar is Alaska's weakest dimension, at 0 of 15 for the state as a whole. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $62k to $230k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Alaska row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

Before you buy in Alaska

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Alaska? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.