A new cost-of-living assessment confirms what every Unalaskan knows – this place is expensive. The Alaska Department of Labor monthly publication breaks down how much it costs to buy groceries, fuel, and housing in different regions in the state. In Unalaska, the cost of living is 58 percent higher than in Anchorage. Of Alaska’s larger communities, only Kotzebue is more expensive.

State economist Neal Fried says it’s not immediately clear why some comparable communities have lower costs of living than Unalaska.

“Why is the Unalaska/Dutch Harbor area that much higher than Dillingham? That’s kind of hard to explain, I think,” says Fried.

While he can’t account for Dillingham being dramatically less expensive than Unalaska, he can point to a few reasons why Unalaska is so pricey. For one, it’s remote, which means there isn’t any competition for good and services. Plus, that means everything has to travel by air or water. Right now, a week’s worth of groceries for an Unalaskan family of four costs nearly $200.

Fried doesn’t expect that to change in the near future.

“Goods are moving more efficiently than they did in the past, but the cost of transportation and fuel – which is so basic and has a disproportionate impact on places like Dutch Harbor – doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon,” says Fried.

But Fried says that goods and services aren’t the biggest financial drain in Unalaska.

“Housing obviously being the largest thing we spend our income on wherever we live in most cases, that’s considerably higher than most of the larger communities in Alaska,” says Fried.

But compared to Alaska’s small villages, Fried says Unalaska is relatively affordable despite the high cost of housing, goods, fuel, and transportation.

The Department of Labor commissions cost of living surveys on regular basis to determine school district funding and to establish appropriate salaries for state employees.