Bethel is a somewhat small city located in the state of Alaska. With a population of 6,276 people and just one neighborhood, Bethel is the ninth largest community in Alaska.
Bethel real estate is some of the most expensive in Alaska, although Bethel house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.
Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Bethel is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Bethel is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Bethel who work in office and administrative support (18.42%), management occupations (13.98%), and healthcare (9.86%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 10.32% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.
One of the benefits of Bethel is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 11.06 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
As is often the case in a small city, Bethel doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
In terms of college education, Bethel is nearly on par with the US average for all cities of 21.84%: 19.32% of adults 25 and older in Bethel have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Bethel in 2022 was $37,790, which is middle income relative to Alaska, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $151,160 for a family of four. However, Bethel contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Bethel is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Bethel home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Bethel residents report their race to be Native American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Bethel include German, Norwegian, Irish, English, and European.
The most common language spoken in Bethel is English. Other important languages spoken here include Native American languages and Korean.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 82.1% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
In the neighborhood, carpooling is still a popular way to get to and from work. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that 29.7% of commuters carpool here, which is more than in 98.7% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, more people in choose to walk to work each day (20.0%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Of particular note, 3.8% of the people in the neighborhood currently reside in a correction facility, held due to punishment for a crime.
The government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 14.7% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 96.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 23.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 29 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 92.9% of America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Native American ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 65.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Native American ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 36.2% 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 99.9% 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 Bethel are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 76.5% of the neighborhoods in America. With 14.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 59.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 39.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 21.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (19.6%), and 18.8% in manufacturing and laborer 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 55.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Native American languages and Korean.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Bethel, AK, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Native American (65.4%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (6.3%), and residents who report Asian roots (3.7%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (3.6%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (2.3%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (82.1% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (39.9%) 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 (29.7%) and 20.0% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.