Buying the median home in Fairbanks means financing $285,000. Against the area's $72,000 median household income, that works out to a 4.0x price-to-income ratio.
At a 1.2% effective rate, Fairbanks property taxes add $285 to the monthly payment on the median home, $3,420 a year in total.
Alaska charges no state income tax. Every dollar of the $72,000 median household income here converts more directly into covering the $1,889/month payment.
Fairbanks's cost of living index is 118, above the 100 national baseline. That's on top of the housing numbers above, not instead of them.
Fairbanks's median home price runs 31% lower than nearby Anchorage: $415,000 there versus $285,000 here.