Seward, Alaska.
Typical home $396,629 (+8.8% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,138 (+121%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $31,986 +9%
- $364,643$396,629 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $81,872 +26%
- $314,757$396,629 since Sep 2021
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.
- Seward$2,082
- Alaska$2,089
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 15 years.
Typical home values in Seward, AK rose 8.8% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Seward, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Seward is a city of 2,717 people in Kenai Peninsula Borough. Unemployment in Kenai Peninsula Borough was 3.4% in August 2026, and the county had 1.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Kenai Peninsula Borough work in schools and health care, then construction.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Seward is a small city on the Kenai Peninsula, home to a modest number of people who tend to know one another. Winters are cold, with January the coldest month, and summers are cool, with July highs staying mild. A good deal of rain and melted snow falls over the year. Homes cost more than many would expect for a town this size, and a four-year degree is common among adults.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with building trades, government and shops also employing a good number. The State of Alaska and Providence Seward Medical & Care Center, a critical access hospital, are among the largest workplaces in town, and the National Park Service is another. Unemployment across the Kenai Peninsula Borough is a little lower than a year ago, and the number of jobs there has edged up.
Things to do. The Alaska SeaLife Center, a zoo and marine science attraction, is in or beside town, as is Hoben Park. A short drive away, Bear Lake offers a quiet spot by the water. Kenai Fjords National Park is a longer drive away for those who want a full day out.
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- 925households
- 43%of adults have a degree
- 9%below the poverty line
- 8%work from home
What people in Kenai Peninsula Borough work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Kenai Peninsula Borough had 21,722 jobs in 2025, 1.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 31° and lows near 21°; warmest in July, with highs near 62° and lows near 50°. About 70 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Seward Airport weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Seward
- State of Alaska138
- Providence Seward Medical & Care CENCritical access hospital89FTE
- AK27 Providence Seward Mountain Haven-sewardContinuing care retirement communities60
- National Park ServiceFederal government · Department of the Interior50
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 3 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 284 people in all. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and federal offices from OPM's federal workforce data (2026); 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
- EarthquakesVery high
- AvalanchesVery high
- Winter weatherVery high
- LandslidesRelatively high
- TsunamisRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Seward’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. More on Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Seward home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Seward$396,629
- Alaska$397,932
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Seward17
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Seward5
Zip codes with a Seward address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Seward — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.