On January 12, the Department of Labor released its 2016 report on population change in Alaska. The population has grown slightly because of births, but people are still moving out faster than they are moving in.
Net migration — or the number of people coming to Alaska minus those leaving — has been on the decline for the last 6 years.
State economist Neal Fried said not all of the out flow has to do with Alaska’s recent economic downturns.
“This net out-migration started three or four years ago,” Fried said. “And at that time our economy was still doing relatively well. The change that occurred was the national economy started to do very well.”
Fried says areas like the Pacific Northwest, which he said is economically hot right now, often supply the largest numbers for in-migration for Alaska. Since most of the Lower 48 is recovering from the recession, jobs numbers are looking better and the current economic state of Alaska pales in contrast.
Despite the years-long trend of decreases in net migration for the state as a whole, Alaska’s population increased over the last year. According to Alaska’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the state’s population went up by more than 2,600 people last year — mostly because there were almost 7,000 more births than deaths. Most of the population increases were in the Anchorage and Mat-Su areas.
State Demographer Eddie Hunsinger said there have been “new developments of folks living out there in really the last 20 years, and this year was no exception.”
Hunsinger said Southeast Alaska was the area that saw the largest population losses, in part due to deaths.
“Southeast Alaska does have an older population, and that’s not something particularly new,” Hunsinger said. “But that older population goes along with typical population losses for Southeast Alaska.”
Both Hunsinger and Fried said that last year’s numbers, despite some population variances, are pretty much in line with typical natural growth and migration patterns.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
