Kodiak Island Borough is a borough in Alaska, United States, covering Kodiak Island and several smaller islands in the Gulf of Alaska. It had a population of 13,101 at the 2020 census and covers 6,550 square miles (16,965 km2) centred near 57\u00b043\u2032N 153\u00b047\u2032W.<\/p>\n
Kodiak is the borough seat, its postal code is 99615, and the borough has six incorporated cities and six unincorporated communities. Kodiak Island Borough observes Alaska Time and carries FIPS code 02150.<\/p>\n
Twelve named places sit inside the borough: six incorporated cities and six unincorporated communities recognized by the Census Bureau as census-designated places (CDPs). Every place below except Kodiak city is reachable only by boat or small aircraft; none has a road connection to another community across the water.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kodiak<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 5,581<\/td>\n | 99615<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Akhiok<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Larsen Bay<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 99624<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Old Harbor<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 99643<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ouzinkie<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 99644<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Port Lions<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 99550<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Aleneva<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Chiniak<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Karluk<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 99608<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Kodiak Station<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Mill Bay<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Womens Bay<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Kodiak Station, on the Coast Guard base southeast of downtown Kodiak, is a distinct census place from Kodiak city itself despite sharing a road system; Womens Bay and Chiniak sit further along the same road network and are not to be confused with the outlying boat-and-plane villages of Akhiok, Karluk, Larsen Bay, Old Harbor and Ouzinkie.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nKodiak’s 99615 ZIP alone serves roughly 95 percent of the borough’s residents; the two other Kodiak-area codes are PO Box only and do not carry a residential population count.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nThe borough occupies Kodiak Island — the second-largest island in the United States after Hawaii Island — along with Afognak, Shuyak, Raspberry, Sitkalidak and dozens of smaller islands scattered across the Gulf of Alaska. Terrain runs from rugged, spruce-forested mountains on the northeast side of the main island to open, treeless tundra farther southwest, cut through by fjords, glacial valleys and salmon-bearing rivers. The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge covers roughly two-thirds of the southwestern portion of Kodiak Island and much of Uganik and Afognak, and shelters the Kodiak brown bear, a subspecies found nowhere else.<\/p>\n Kodiak Island Borough has no land border with any other organized borough or census area; the nearest are Kenai Peninsula Borough across Shelikof Strait to the north and Lake and Peninsula Borough across the strait to the northwest, both reachable only by air or sea.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nThe borough recorded 13,101 residents at the 2020 census. Kodiak city, with 5,581 people, holds well over a third of that total; Womens Bay and Chiniak, the two unincorporated communities along the road system south and east of Kodiak, are the borough’s next-largest population centers. County-level median household income figures are not independently verified here; for comparison, the statewide Alaska median household income is $88,121 (2023 ACS). At roughly 2 residents per square mile, Kodiak Island Borough’s overall density is far below the state’s already-low average, a reflection of the borough’s size and its largely roadless, water-divided geography.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nCommercial fishing anchors the local economy. Kodiak’s harbor is consistently ranked among the top few fishing ports in the United States by catch volume, landing salmon, halibut, pollock and king crab that supply the city’s seafood processing plants. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Base Kodiak, the service’s largest base, is one of the borough’s biggest employers and operates Air Station Kodiak, a search-and-rescue and law-enforcement hub for the North Pacific, alongside a Naval Special Warfare cold-weather training detachment. Visitor traffic centers on sport fishing, bear viewing and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. The Kodiak Crab Festival, held over Memorial Day weekend in downtown Kodiak, is the borough’s best-known annual event, drawing carnival rides, food booths and boat races; the Pillar Mountain Run, a steep out-and-back race up the peak overlooking the harbor, is the other local fixture.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nAlutiiq people have lived on Kodiak Island for more than 7,000 years, supporting themselves on the island’s salmon runs and marine mammals. Russian fur traders led by Alexander Baranov established a settlement at present-day Kodiak in 1792, first known as Paul’s Harbor; it served as the capital of Russian America until the seat of government moved to Sitka in 1804. The United States purchased Alaska in 1867, and Kodiak Island Borough organized as a home-rule borough on September 24, 1963, one of the first boroughs formed under Alaska’s post-statehood borough system. The borough was struck hard by the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake and the tsunami it generated, which destroyed much of the Kodiak waterfront and the borough’s fishing fleet, forcing a major rebuilding of the town in the years that followed.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nNo highway connects Kodiak Island Borough to the rest of Alaska; every trip on or off the island is by air or water. Kodiak Airport, a few miles from downtown Kodiak, has daily jet service to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines. The Alaska Marine Highway System’s ferries, the MV Tustumena and MV Kennicott, link Kodiak to Homer, Seward and other Gulf of Alaska ports on a regular seasonal schedule. Within the borough, Akhiok, Karluk, Larsen Bay, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie and Port Lions have no road link to Kodiak city or to each other and are reached only by small aircraft or boat.<\/p>\n
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