6. Homer

Homer may not exactly have had the young population of, say, Fairbanks (in fact, it ranked 20th in this category), but don’t let that fool you. Even with just 18.03 percent of its residents between 18 and 34, this city still managed to rank the very best for its number of nightlife, music venues, and active life listings per capita.

It also had the second most arts listings in the state. Plus, it was home to Two Sisters Bakery. The sticky buns there—pretty much all the reason you need to move to Homer.

7. College

It would have been really disappointing if a place called “College” wasn’t exciting, don’t you think? Luckily, this little area of Fairbanks lives up to its name. As you probably guessed, it ranked well in our analysis for its 34.76 percent of residents between the ages of 18 and 34 (seeing as practically the whole area is populated by University of Alaska Fairbanks students.)

It also had the fifth most dense population in the state, with 690 people per square mile. Sure, it’s no Ketchikan in this regard, but at least it was better than Sterling (72 people per square mile. Good luck meeting someone exciting…)

8. Badger

What’s great about Badger is that it’s close enough to Fairbanks to get in on the action there, but far enough away to be a nice community of its own.

It ranked particularly well for its relatively dense population (ninth in this category), and its high percentage of young people—25.73 percent.

To put this into perspective for you, just take a look at the capital city, Juneau, where just 16.6 percent of residents were between the ages of 18 and 34.

9. Bethel

Bethel may be best known for its annual events, like the Kuskokowim 300, Camai, the traditional Yupik dance festival, and the Bethel Fair, but residents know that this city is plenty exciting year-round. (Also, these events are awesome.)

Not only did Bethel have more restaurants per capita than nearly anywhere else in the state, with places like Dimitri’s and Chopstix, it actually had some delicious food to boot. Plus, the population here was made up of 26 percent people between 18 and 34, and as we all know, young people are just exciting. What? It’s science.

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