Bethel, Alaska

Bethel population, land area and income

Bethel had 18,237 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 40,660.6 square miles of land. It ranks 6th of 30 in Alaska by population and 3rd by land area. That works out to 0.4 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and in the bottom quarter nationally.

The median county-equivalent in Alaska has 6,175 residents, so Bethel is 3.0 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $62,140 is below the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Bethel's population changed since 2020

Bethel lost 433 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 2.3%. That ranks 20th of 30 in Alaska for growth. The median Alaska county changed by -1.3%, and the state as a whole by +1.0%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Bethel recorded 1,662 births and 683 deaths, a natural change of +979. Net international migration added +67 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -1,490. The largest single component was domestic migration, which removed 1,490 people.

Where Bethel is

The Census internal point of Bethel is at 60.929100, -160.152600. It sits in UTM zone 4N. The map shades Alaska's 30 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Bethel outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Bethel

One incorporated place of 1,000+ people has residents in Bethel, 6,335 people together, or 35% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Bethel; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Bethel with 6,335.

Counties bordering Bethel

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 6 neighbors for Bethel. The most populous is Matanuska-Susitna, AK, with 117,613 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Matanuska-Susitna

  117,613 people

  361 mi ENE

• Kenai Peninsula

  61,259 people

  268 mi E

• Kusilvak

  7,946 people

  137 mi NW

• Yukon-Koyukuk

  5,099 people

  407 mi NE

• Dillingham

  4,642 people

  116 mi SE

• Lake and Peninsula

  1,315 people

  235 mi SE

Distance to Juneau and the nearest big city

Juneau is 911.2 miles E of Bethel's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Anchorage, AK (population 289,600), 363.4 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Wasilla, AK (population 10,318), 357.7 miles away.

Bethel FIPS code

The FIPS code of Bethel is 02050: state code 02 for Alaska plus borough or census area code 050. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $62,140.