Is most of the current population of Alaska transient or permanent?

Factual Questions
1

I remember reading in The Nine Nations of North America, by Joel Garreau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Nations_of_North_America), that most of the population of Alaska (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska) was made up of “transients” – persons who were not born in Alaska and do not intend to die there, but went there for some kind of temporary work. That book was published in 1981. Was it true then? Is it true now?

2

Brain,

It’s apparently still correct according to the US Census Bureau . The statistic Living in same house in 1995 and 2000 for Alaska is 46.2% versus 54.1% for the US average.

Having been here a year I can believe it. The indigenous population (“Native” Americans) isn’t very large. Much of the rest of the population seems to have arrived because of military service (2 Army bases, 2 Air Force bases) or the pipeline/petroleum industry. The other large non-governmental industry, hospitality, is highly seasonal. I doubt many of these workers stay here the 8 off-season months.

As a newcomer who’ll probably be a soon-to-leaver, I can understand why. It’s quite inconvenient to live here. Everything is expensive. Some medical services aren’t available. The winters are harsh and long and boring (when will we see grass?). And moose walking on the roads as if they own the place! For most people it’s definitely a better place to visit than live.

PS-I don’t intend to die here but the drunk drivers may change those plans.

PPS-I would have posted 10 minutes ago if the DNS server was working; yet another plus for living in Alaska! [/sarcasm]

3

That’s a persuasive statistic, but not conclusive. Lots of people change their home without relocating to another state.

4

That appears to be the case. Here is some more detail on that statistic, showing that of the total population of 579,740 in the year 2000, 108,126 had lived out of state in 1995. That is 18.65% in five years. I don’t know how you would estimate over a longer period who is permanent and who will leave. The cite in the OP ounds like a WAG to me.

5

Oops. That link doesn’t work. Go here, click on [Summary File 3 (SF3)](Summary File 3 (SF3) ), then select Social Characteristics and hit Continue, then select **Migration ** and hit Continue, then hit Continue again. Should display the correct table.