Fun Facts and Trivia about Alaska's largest city, Anchorage.

Size

With an area of 1,704.7 square miles. Anchorage is the 3rd largest city, by area, in the United States.
Larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, The Municipality of Anchorage is over 2,000 square miles, almost the size of Delaware.

Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, with a population of288,970
The 68th largest city in the United States, Anchorage is just a little smaller, population-wise, than Cincinnati, Ohio and just a little larger than St. Louis, Missouri.

Summer temperatures average between 55-78°F with winter temperatures ranging between 5-30°F.
In Anchorage, the hottest temperature on record is 90°F in 2019 and the coldest temperature ever recorded was -38°F in 1947)
The average annual snowfall in Anchorage is 75.5 inches. On record in 2011-12, Anchorage received over 11 feet of snow.

In Alaska, there are 224 federally recognized tribes and 20 indigenous languages spoken, with the Dena’ina, a tribe of Athabascan Indians being the original inhabitants of the south-central area for more than 1000 years.

Also known as “The Northern Lights”, the charged electrons and protons hitting the earth’s outer atmosphere creating an amazing light show in the winter night sky in Anchorage. View them in Anchorage

During summer, Anchorage can receive up to 22 hours of daylight with the sun barely dipping below the horizon. Above the Arctic Circle this is known as a midnight sun, where the angled sun travels in a 360-degree circle in the sky without appearing to set. Read more

From Anchorage, when visibility allows, you can see six different mountain ranges: The Chugach Range, The Talkeetna Range, The Alaska Range, The Aleutian Chain, The Kenai Range, and The Tordrillo range.
From Anchorage, you can see Denali Peak, the tallest mountain in North America (at 20,320-feet) which is almost 130 miles (north) away. *Also known as Mount McKinley.

Anchorage is located on a peninsula surrounded by the Cook Inlet, including Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm. Cook Inlet is the northernmost water of the Pacific Ocean.

Known as snowmobiles in the rest of the United States, in Alaska they are called snow machines (not to be confused with snow makers (which make snow at ski resorts).
Anchorage loves its coffee, with more coffee shops and unique street huts than most other cities in the country (per capita) it will impress even the most experienced coffee connoisseurs.
Besides the love of coffee, on the cold side, locals love their ice-cream, so much that Alaska holds the record for most ice-cream consumed per capita.
Ask anyone who lives in Anchorage how they ended up here and many will tell you that they came here for a visit and either never left or moved here right after. That’s all it takes to fall in love with Alaska.
When driving in Anchorage you may discover that residents love to express themselves – with their personalized vanity plates. It’s not just locals, Alaska has been ranked #13 in U.S. for states with the highest number of vanity plates.
Another badge of honor for Anchorage is its urban and wild fashion sense. So what Travel & Leisure voted it the worst-dressed city in the U.S., residents here find their beanies, Carhartts (rugged outerwear), puffy coats (down jackets), Xtra Tuffs (rain boots), and Sorels (winter boots) not only functional but stylish as well and are proud to keep sporting it.