The State of Alaska Marine Highway Ferry System offers year-round ferry service from Washington State to Haines, Alaska and seasonal, summer service from Washington State to Whittier, Alaska, near Anchorage. Alaskan ferries take walk-on passengers, Cars, and RV’s up to 60′ feet long on most ships.

Ferry operations were suspended in March, 2009 after the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a state law allowing the Superferry to operate without a second complete environmental impact statement was unconstitutional. The company went bankrupt as a result of these actions preventing service in Hawaii.

The answer depends on where you’re going. The Alaska Ferry runs 24 hours a day. It takes 36 hours from Bellingham to reach the first stop at Ketchikan. Visitors often disembark in a variety of towns, stay a few nights on land, then continue on the ferry.

You can certainly drive from Seattle to Alaska – just not to Juneau or Ketchikan. As others have stated, with a vehicle, you can only take the ferry there. From the south, you would have to depart out of Bellingham or Prince Rupert.

Alaska Ferry System Costs As an example, two people traveling one-way from Bellingham, WA to Ketchikan is approx $500 (in the middle of the summer). Add a vehicle (like the VW Westfalia) and you’ll add another $500. Add a cabin for another approx $250-350.

Juneau is definitely worth a visit and if you are not planning on returning to Alaska, combining Juneau with Anchorage, Denali and Seward could be a good use of your time. Cordova is closer to Anchorage than Juneau, but definitely “off the beaten path” since you must fly or take the ferry there.

Anchorage is your best bet, as far as job opportunities go. It’s also the best place to live if you want to do any travelling, due to access to the AK Railroad, airport (Juneau gets weathered in a lot), road system and AK Marine Highway System (state run ferry system).

The 10 Most Beautiful Towns in Alaska

• Homer, Alaska | ©Rbrough/Flickr.
• Gustavus, Alaska | ©CC Miller/Flickr.
• Girdwood | ©Katie (alaskahokie)/Flickr.
• Kenai Fijords Park | ©Ajburcar/Flickr.
• Mountains near Valdez, Alaska | ©David Morris/Flickr.
• Aurora Lights, Fairbanks Alaska | ©Ron James/ Flickr.
• Idyllic Creek Street, Ketchikan, Alaska | ©Bernard Spragg.

Juneau is now more expensive than Fairbanks or Anchorage, according to the report, with a cost of living 34.5 percent greater than the national average. Fairbanks was 29.8 percent above the average; Anchorage was 28.4 percent above the average.

Although you may not see them all on your next Alaskan cruise, Juneau is well known for its incredible wildlife — both on land and by sea. Juneau is popular. In a given year Juneau can receive as many as 900,000 cruise ship passengers and an additional 100,000 independent travelers. There’s no place like Juneau.

20 Things Everyone In Alaska Should Avoid At All Costs

• Farmed seafood. Flickr – Judi Knight.
• Or buying fish in general. Flickr – Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
• Even feeding your dogs farmed fish.
• Eating hot dogs.
• Camping without a view.
• Snacking on chips from the lower 48.
• Shopping at big corporate box stores.
• Drinking wine that isn’t from Alaska.

Food prices

Markets	Edit
Milk (regular), (1 gallon)	3.74$
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb)	3.73$
Rice (white), (1 lb)	3.39$
Eggs (regular) (12)	3.66$

The Most Affordable Places To Live In Alaska

Rank	City	Population
1	King Cove	1,147
2	Hooper Bay	1,141
3	Sand Point	1,309
4	Valdez	3,847

Fueling Your Adventures: The Cost of Groceries in Alaska

Item	Anchorage, AK	Portland, OR
1 quart of milk	$1.07	$0.93
12 eggs, large	$4.50	$3.47
2L bottle of Coke	$2.33	$1.98
4 rolls of toilet paper	$4.31	$3.37

Summary about cost of living in Anchorage, AK, United States: Family of four estimated monthly costs are 4,295$ without rent….Cost of Living in Anchorage.

Restaurants	Edit
Milk (regular), (1 gallon)	3.87$
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb)	3.48$
Rice (white), (1 lb)	3.35$
Eggs (regular) (12)	3.05$

The easy answer is that Alaska is big and sparsely populated, access to many places is difficult and it’s far from places where goods are manufactured. Shipping is, therefore, expensive, and it drives up the costs of everything from gasoline to lumber to finished consumer goods. Hence, everything is more expensive.

Our cost of living indices are based on a US average of 100. An amount below 100 means Alaska is cheaper than the US average….Alaska cost of living is 125.8.

COST OF LIVING	Alaska	United States
Housing	134.3	100
Median Home Cost	$310,600	$231,200
Utilities	169.8	100
Transportation	98.2	100

Restaurant Menu

McRib Meal	$7.89	Not Available After Midnight
Big Mac Meal	$9.99
Big Mac Meal	$11.00	Large
Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal	$10.93
Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal	$12.13	Large

Homesteading came to an end in the lower 48 states over a century later in 1976 with the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. The last claim was issued in 1974 to Ken Deardorff for a homestead in Alaska. However, free land is still available from small towns and cities or farming communities.

No. Homesteading ended on all federal lands on October 21, 1986. The State of Alaska currently has no homesteading program for its lands. In 2012, the State made some state lands available for private ownership through two types of programs: sealed-bid auctions and remote recreation cabin sites.

Since 1976, Alaska has paid its residents to live there via its Permanent Fund Dividend. The payouts are funded by Alaska’s oil royalties and are divided up evenly among citizens.

Alaska will pay you approximately $1,600 to live there! So much so that they offer numerous grants and tax incentives to make you an Alaskan. The Permanent Fund Dividend is a perfect example. Residents who remain in the state for a dividend year receive $1,600.

This article is going to show you some of the top cities and states that will pay you to move there in 2021….

• Alaska.
• Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• Northwest Arkansas.
• Topeka, Kansas.
• The Shoals (Alabama Region)
• Newton, Iowa.
• Lincoln, Kansas.

Here is are the 10 most affordable cities that you should consider moving to when you want to sell your home and start over:

1. Charlotte, North Carolina.
2. Temple, Texas.
3. Youngstown, Ohio.
4. Boise, Idaho.
5. Memphis, Tennessee.
6. Harlingen, Texas.
7. Pueblo, Colorado.
8. Omaha, Nebraska.

Alaska has the lowest taxes in the country. There are no statewide income or sales taxes, but residents do still pay some local sales taxes. There are also property taxes.

It’s illegal to whisper in another person’s ear if they are hunting moose in the state of Alaska. Concentration is key, so it is best to wait until after you are done hunting to have a conversation. There are other moose-related laws as well: Specifically, it’s illegal to feed an alcoholic beverage to one of them.

The state of Alaska developed the Permanent Fund Dividend in 1976 and started paying money out to residents of Alaska in 1980. Investment earnings on Alaskan mineral royalties are paid out to Alaska residents. It is an annual payment. The amount varies every year but in 2015, 637,014 residents got $2,072 each.

Residential Leasing in Alaska As of 2016, renting an apartment in the Anchorage area costs an average of $1,135 per month. Kenai, a small town, is somewhat cheaper, with an average rent of $888 per month for all apartment types.