Community Indicators Project

Mat-Su Community Indicators

The annual Mat-Su Borough Community Survey is a collaboration between the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough and the UAA Justice Center to collect information about satisfaction with Borough services, household aspirations, and household composition. These data will be used by Borough decision-makers to prioritize projects, improve services, and better plan for the future growth of the Mat-Su Borough. The Justice Center will use these data to support research efforts leading to more complete understanding of the nature of change in the Borough and its implications for the future.

Background on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Incorporated in 1964, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough encompasses 24,502 square miles of land, and has been the fastest-growing region of Alaska for the past 15 years, with an estimated population in 2010 of 88,995 people.¹ The Borough's population is geographically diverse, with 17% of its population living in the incorporated cities of Palmer, Wasilla, and Houston, and the remainder living in more remote areas.²

Over the past decade the Mat-Su Borough has experienced job growth at a rate three times greater than the rest of the state; however, a third of Mat-Su residents continue to commute to the jobs in the nearby Municipality of Anchorage, and another 13% worked on the North Slope or in other distant locations around Alaska.² Unemployment is estimated at 7.4% as of November 2012.³ The largest employers in the Mat-Su Borough as of 2009 were the Mat-Su School District, the State of Alaska, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, Wal-Mart/Sam's Club, and Fred Meyer.²

Law enforcement is handled by city police departments in Palmer and Wasilla, with all other areas being serviced by the Alaska State Troopers. Medical Services are provided by a single hospital, a number of clinics, and practitioners, and emergency medical and fire services are provided by paid on-call responders.

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