Obviously, they do, so I'll admit that the premise of my question is wrong.
But isn't the cost of living incredibly high? Don't they have to fly in everything - food, clothes, building materials, wood for fireplaces? How can they afford to do all that and keep prices anywhere near what it is in the rest of the country?
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
The cost of living in AK is really high, but I think people hear things about how in some villages milk costs ten dollars a gallon and assume it's that way everywhere. I live in Juneau (the capital) and I can go out to Costco and pay something like 3.89. Gas right now is 4.27 a gallon, which is the same price as I paid when I went on vacation to Chicago last month. Places that are accessible by sea have goods barged in rather than flown because it's cheaper. Southeast is largely inaccessible by road, because it's a bunch of islands and even cities on the mainland tend to be locked in by mountains, so we get most of our goods off the barge. Places in the more northern, main part of AK can have things barged to the coast (Anchorage) and then trucked from there. That being said, there are also places in the main part of Alaska that are still not accessible by road even though there's no ocean or mountains in the way. THOSE places have to have everything flown in, which is where the ten dollar milk comes from. But a lot of the people living in those areas lead a subsistence lifestyle, so they hunt/fish/gather most of their food and try to avoid crazy prices at grocery stores. Life is a lot different and simpler in those places.
Also, jobs tend to pay a lot more here, and there are a lot of jobs to be had. Mining, fishing, work on the pipeline, etc. all pay very well because they are high risk. Minimum wage is also higher than in the lower 48 at $7.75. So there's that too. Residents also get the Permanent Fund Dividend check every year in October, which is a five year average of oil profits divided by the number of AK residents, so that's about 1200 free dollars to help alleviate the extra costs. Although a lot of people use it to buy new TVs or cars or alcohol instead of applying it more sensibly. Or on plane tickets to leave.
So anyway. There's more than you probably ever cared to know about life in AK.
Thanks for the info. No, it wasn't too much. By the way, $7.75 is only 50 cents higher than down here, so that's not that much. But I'm sure, like you said, that other jobs pay way better up there.
We were still wondering, though. For places where they are hunting/gathering, what do they do about fruit/vegetables? You need those, even now and then, don't you? I can imagine that you'd be paying 10 dollars a pound for grapes or apples, no? How can you go without a good apple?
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
I know fifty cents doesn't sound like a lot, but it's another 960 bucks a year if you're working full time. Before taxes. And Alaskans don't pay any state taxes, only taxes put in place by cities. Also the difference in the price of things like groceries generally isn't all that much, so the difference in pay does have an impact on the difference in costs.
The ground isn't completely covered in snow all year long, so there are edible plants growing. Berries and roots and tubers and stuff. Traditionally, people who lead a subsistence lifestyle gather those during the (fairly short) growing season and preserve them for the winter. Alaskan Eskimos have been living off diets ridiculously high in fat/protein and low in fiber for hundreds if not thousands of years and get along just fine. People who want produce like grapes and apples just have to suck it up and pay for it, which is an extra big bummer because you pay a lot of money for pretty low quality produce that has had a lot of time to sit and go bad in transit and has possibly been frozen, either from outside temperatures or intentionally to try and preserve it. When I buy grapes here I have MAYBE one week to eat them before they go bad, so when I went down south and could keep them for 4-6 before they spoiled it kind of blew my mind.
Igloos are cheap to make up here all you need is snow,and no need to buy gas when we all have dogs sleds
shareAverage price for a 2000 foot single family suburban home in the Anchorage area will run you about $350,000. MUCH less than San Francisco area! BUT a place like Dallas, Texas area it will run you about $200,000
It's the damn price of food that's a problem here! Unless you're a military retiree shopping at the commissary, Sam's, or Costco, shopping for food at Safeway, Fred Meyer, and even Walmart is overpriced! BUT, if you're at one of those small towns like Barrow, Bethel, or Nome, the A/C Store is even worse!
As for the tiny villages, the prices even worse, but the native folks have the state take care of them, so they don't have to worry about starving!
As a final note, a household income of at least $100,000 a year is what it takes to live comfortable in this place!
As for the Alaska Natives, they did great until the white folks came up here and introduced alcohol, starches, sugar, towns, and permanent shelters to live in and given handouts!