Anchorage Daily News

FAIRBANKS -- A statewide survey has found the cost-of-living gap has widened between larger cities and remote small communities across rural Alaska.

According to the survey, the rural-urban cost-of-living gap has increased by 10 to 23 percentage points since the mid-1980s for remote towns including Barrow, Bethel and Unalaska. It already costs 50 percent more to live in these towns than it does Anchorage, according to the report.

The survey is part of a project led by the Juneau-based McDowell Group to find ways to make Alaska a more competitive employer as early retirement trends and an aging work force create challenges for recruiters.

The $400,000 project weighed the relative importance of housing, food, transportation and other costs between communities.

Data from the project, completed early this year, came from a survey of thousands of homes and businesses across the state.

Jim Calvin, a consultant with the McDowell Group, told the House Finance Committee this week that the widening cost-of-living gap could be partly because expanding retail markets in Anchorage and Fairbanks have pushed down shopping costs.

"Rural Alaska has enjoyed none of those benefits," Calvin said.

He noted that increases in home heating and fuel costs generally account for a larger share of household spending in rural communities.

Calvin also said that "highway access was a critical, critical component" in determining differences in the cost of living across Alaska.

The McDowell Group worked with firms in Oregon and Washington to survey retail outlets, companies and more than 2,500 households for the project.

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