Demographics of Alaska

The 1870 Census in Alaska was conducted by U.S. Army personnel under the command of Major General Henry W. Halleck. This count showed 82,400 people. But because of duplication of tribes listed under different names, the inclusion of a tribe that did not exist, and exaggerated estimates, the number was not considered reliable.[10]

According to the 2020 United States census, the racial composition of Alaska was the following:[11]

• White: 64.1% (Non-Hispanic White: 58.8%)
• Black 3.7%
• Asian 6.7% (4.4% Filipino, 0.3% Chinese, 0.2% Laotian, 0.2% Japanese, 0.1% Indian, 0.1% Vietnamese, 0.1% Thai)
• American Indian or Alaskan Native 15.7%
• Pacific Islander: 1.7% (0.7% Samoan, 0.1% Hawaiian, 0.1% Tongan)
• Two or more races: 8.2%
• Other races: 1.7%

The population was 7.7% of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race).

The largest ancestry groups (which the Census defines as not including racial terms) in the state are:[12]

• 18.3% German
• 11.0% Irish
• 8.5% English
• 6.5% Norwegian
• 4.4% Filipino
• 3.8% French
• 3.7% Native American
• 3.3% Italian
• 3.0% Mexican
• 2.9% Scottish
• 2.7% Polish
• 2.5% Swedish
• 1.9% Dutch
• 1.4% Russian

The vast and sparsely populated regions of northern and western Alaska are primarily inhabited by Alaska Natives, who are also numerous in the southeast. Anchorage, Fairbanks, and other parts of south-central and southeast Alaska have many White Americans of northern and western European ancestry. The Wrangell-Petersburg area has many residents of Scandinavian ancestry and the Aleutian Islands contain a large Filipino population. The vast majority of the state's Black population lives in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Also, Alaska has the largest percentage of American Indians of any state. Some of the Alaska Natives absorbed the small 1700s Russian-era settlement. There are some Creole people of natives and Russians mixture.

Note: Births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.

• Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one Hispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey, 84.7% of people over the age of five speak only English at home. About 3.5% speak Spanish at home. About 2.2% speak an Indo-European language other than Spanish or English at home, about 4.3% speak an Asian language at home and about 5.3% speak other languages at home.

A total of 5.2% of Alaskans speak one of the state's 22 indigenous languages, known locally as "native languages". These languages belong to two major language families: Eskimo–Aleut and Na-Dené. As the homeland of these two major language families of North America, Alaska has been described as the crossroads of the continent, providing evidence for the recent settlement of North America via the Bering land bridge.

Russian Orthodox church in Sitka, Alaska.

• Christian – 62%[23]
  • Evangelical Protestant – 22%
  • Mainline Protestant – 12%
  • Historically Black Protestant – 3%
  • Roman Catholic – 16%
  • Orthodoxy – 5%
  • Latter-day Saint – 5%
  • Jehovah's Witnesses – <0.5%
  • Other Christian – <0.5%

Other religions[23]

• Jewish – <1%
• Buddhist- 1%
• Islam – <1%
• Hindu – <1%
• Other world religions – 1%
• Other faiths – 4%
• Unaffiliated – 31%
• Refused to answer – 1%

Alaska's relatively large Orthodox Christian population is notable. The large Eastern Orthodox population (with 49 parishes and up to 50,000 followers) stems from early Russian colonization of the Americas (which centered on Alaska), and from missionary work among Alaska Natives. In 1795 the first Russian Orthodox church was built in Kodiak. Intermarriage with Alaskan Natives helped Russian immigrants integrate into Alaskan societies. As a result, a number of Russian Orthodox parishes gradually became established in Alaska. As of 2021 many are affiliated with the Orthodox Church in America, while others are members of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

The first Sitka Lutheran Church was built for Finnish people in New Archangel (present-day Sitka) in 1843.

Alaska has the largest Quaker population (by percentage) of any U.S. state.[24]

As of 1994, 3,060 Jews lived in Alaska.[25] The number of Jehovah's Witnesses stands at a little less than 2,400. Estimates for the number of Alaskan Muslims range from 1,000 to 5,000.[26]

• List of cities in Alaska

• 2000 Census of Population and Housing for Alaska, U.S. Census Bureau
• Graphical Library of Demographic Change in Arctic Alaska