to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$937 (+81%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Alaska$2,089
- United States$1,922
Living in Copper Center, Copper River Census Area, Alaska
Copper Center, in Copper River Census Area, had 338 people in the 2020 census. Half its households earn more than $59,750 a year and half less, against $79,250 across Copper River Census Area; 5% of its people live below the poverty line. Unemployment in Copper River Census Area was 5.3% in August 2026, and the county had 1.4% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Copper River Census Area work in government, then schools and health care.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Copper Center is a very small community in interior Alaska, home to a close-knit group of residents. Incomes here run below the census area's, though few households fall below the poverty line. Few adults hold a four-year degree, and very few work from home. Winters are severe, with January days that stay well below freezing and nights colder still. Summers are mild and short, and the year brings little rain or snow overall.
Work. Residents work mostly in government, in schools, hospitals and social care, in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, and in the building trades. Across the Copper River Census Area, the largest workplaces include the Copper River Native Association, the Copper River School District and Copper Valley Electric Association. Unemployment is a little higher than a year ago, and there are slightly fewer jobs than there were the year before.
Things to do. Water is the main draw around Copper Center. The Tazlina River is in or beside town, and the Klutina River is a short drive away. The Gulkana River is a longer drive, for those willing to go farther for a day on a river.
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- 151households
- 10%of adults have a degree
- 5%below the poverty line
- 3%work from home
What people in Copper River Census Area work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Copper River Census Area had 1,091 jobs in 2025, 1.4% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 4° and lows near -14°; warmest in July, with highs near 70° and lows near 46°. About 12 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Gennallen Kcam weather station, 9 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Copper River Census Area
- Copper River Native AssociationCommunity health centers and clinics, outpatient104
- Copper River School DistrictSchool district72FTE
- Copper Valley Electric AssociationElectric power generation, hydroelectric43
- Copper River Princess LodgeHotels and motels39
- State of Alaska31
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 4 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 217 people in all across the county; Copper Center has none of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- AvalanchesVery high
- LandslidesRelatively high
- WildfireRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- EarthquakesRelatively high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Copper Center’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out.
Copper Center home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Copper Center16
Zip codes with a Copper Center address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Copper Center — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.
Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.