Willow is a very small town located in the state of Alaska. With a population of 2,196 people and just one neighborhood, Willow is the 34th largest community in Alaska.
Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Willow is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 35.46% of the Willow workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 27.7%. Overall, Willow is a town of sales and office workers, construction workers and builders, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Willow who work in management occupations (12.94%), office and administrative support (12.62%), and sales jobs (9.42%).
A relatively large number of people in Willow telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 8.21% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Another notable thing is that Willow is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.
Because of many things, Willow is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Willow really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Willow perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.
The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Willow has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Willow a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
One downside of living in Willow, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 41.92 minutes every day commuting to work.
Being a small town, Willow does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The education level of Willow citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 21.72% of adults in Willow have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Willow in 2022 was $35,847, which is lower middle income relative to Alaska, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $143,388 for a family of four. However, Willow contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Willow is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Willow home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Willow residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Willow include German, Irish, English, Swedish, and Norwegian.
The most common language spoken in Willow is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 22.0% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.7% of all neighborhoods in America.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 53.9% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
In addition, uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 3 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 98.7% of all U.S. neighborhoods. One of the notable things about is that it is one of the quietest neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and quantitative rating of quietness. When you are here, you will find it to be very quiet. If quiet and peaceful are your cup of tea, you may have found a great place for you.
Furthermore, some neighborhoods are made up of apartments. Some consist of row houses, and most - by far - consist of a mixture of housing types. But the neighborhood stands out due to the total dominance of detached, single-family homes here. There are nearly no other types of residential real estate in the neighborhood. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher proportion of single-family homes in its real estate stock than 95.3% of all American neighborhoods.
If you're looking for a great spot to raise a family, then look no further than the neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that the combination of good quality public schools, above-average safety from crime, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family homes, help make this neighborhood among the top 10.7% of family-friendly neighborhoods across the state of Alaska. In addition, there are a high proportion of other families with school-aged children living here, making it easy for parents and their children to socialize and develop a sense of community support. In addition, families here highly value education, as is reflected by the strength of the local schools, in part due to the educational attainment of the parents here, who vote in support of the public schools.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Native American and Swedish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Native American ancestry and 4.9% have Swedish ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.5% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Willow are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 48.6% of the neighborhoods in America. With 19.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 68.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 33.6% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 29.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (23.0%), and 11.2% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 91.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Willow, AK, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (14.5%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (11.9%), and residents who report English roots (7.3%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (5.0%), along with some Swedish ancestry residents (4.9%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (31.2% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (71.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (18.1%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.