Ketchikan Gateway Borough is a borough in Alaska, United States, on Revillagigedo Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the state’s southeastern panhandle. It had a population of 13,948 at the 2020 census and covers 6,654 square miles (17,230 km2), most of it water and island terrain, centred near 55°33′N 131°05′W.<\/p>\n
Ketchikan is the borough seat, and its postal code is 99901. The borough has two incorporated cities, one census-designated place, and several unincorporated communities, spans no civil townships (Alaska has none), and observes the Alaska time zone (UTC−9, UTC−8 during daylight saving).<\/p>\n
Ketchikan Gateway Borough has five named places: two incorporated cities, one census-designated place, and two unincorporated communities. There are no organized townships anywhere in Alaska, so the table below has no township column.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ketchikan<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 8,192<\/td>\n | 99901<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Saxman<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 396<\/td>\n | 99901<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Loring<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ward Cove<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 99928<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Clover Pass<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Saxman sits just south of Ketchikan on the same road system and is often treated as part of the same built-up area, but it is a separate incorporated city with its own mayor and council.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nLoring and Clover Pass are unincorporated and use Ketchikan mailing addresses rather than a distinct ZIP code of their own.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nThe borough occupies the southern part of Revillagigedo Island and a scatter of smaller islands and mainland fjord country in the Tongass National Forest, including part of the Misty Fjords National Monument. Steep, forested mountains drop straight into saltwater channels; there is very little flat ground, and Tongass Narrows separates Ketchikan’s waterfront from Gravina Island and its airport. No road connects the borough to the rest of Alaska’s highway system — access is by air or water only.<\/p>\n Ketchikan Gateway Borough borders the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area to the west and south and the City and Borough of Wrangell to the north; across the international boundary to the east lie British Columbia’s Kitimat-Stikine and Skeena-Queen Charlotte regional districts. None of these neighboring Alaska units currently has a live page on this site.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nThe 2020 census counted 13,948 residents, the large majority in Ketchikan (8,192) and the surrounding road-connected area, with Saxman as the borough’s second incorporated community (396). Alaska’s statewide median household income is the Alaska median of $88,121; Ketchikan Gateway, with a fishing- and tourism-based economy, tracks close to that figure in most published estimates. Because most of the borough’s land area is uninhabited forest and water, overall population density is low, though the Ketchikan-Saxman corridor itself is comparatively dense for Southeast Alaska.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nCommercial fishing and seafood processing, the cruise-ship tourism industry, state and federal government employment (including the U.S. Forest Service’s Tongass National Forest offices), and the Alaska Marine Highway System are the backbone of the local economy. Ketchikan calls itself the “Salmon Capital of the World” and its downtown waterfront, boardwalks, and totem-pole parks draw large numbers of summer cruise passengers. The Ketchikan Shipyard and the local timber-heritage sawmill sites also support year-round jobs.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nKetchikan Gateway Borough was organized on September 6, 1963, one of the first boroughs created after Alaska statehood, consolidating local government functions around the existing city of Ketchikan. The Ketchikan area was long a Tlingit fishing site before non-Native settlement grew around a salmon saltery in the 1880s; Saxman was established in 1894 as a Tlingit village and later became home to a large collection of relocated totem poles.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nNo highway reaches Ketchikan Gateway Borough from outside Alaska; visitors and residents arrive by air or ferry.<\/p>\n
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