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The population in Alaska reached an estimated 679,720 people as of July last year, the state said Monday.
The population was up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, or 5,210 more people, according to Greg Williams, the state demographer. That change reflected 7,770 more births than deaths during the year, and 2,560 more people leaving the state than moving to Alaska, he said. Williams said the Alaska population has grown 8 percent since 2000, or 52,187 people, the same percentage growth as the U.S. population showed. Among communities in Alaska, the estimated populations last July were as follows: • Anchorage, 284,994 people, up 0.9 percent from a year earlier. • Mat-Su, 82,515 people, up 3.5 percent. • Kenai Peninsula Borough, 52,990 people, up 1.7 percent. • Fairbanks North Star Borough, 89,896 people, down 1.6 percent. • Juneau, 30,427 people, up 1 percent. The greatest population growth last year came in the Denali Borough near Denali National Park. The estimated population was 1,848 people, up 4.8 percent. The greatest decline was in Yakutat, with 592 people, down 4.3 percent. Williams said that troops based in Alaska but deployed overseas are counted as being in Alaska in his estimates. "This means that the populations for the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the Municipality of Anchorage, where the main Alaska military bases are located, as well as other communities with a substantial National Guard presence, may be somewhat lower than these estimates indicate, depending on the current deployment of military and National Guard personnel," he said.