Copper River Census Area, Alaska

Copper River Census Area is a census area located in the state of Alaska, United States. It is part of the Unorganized Borough and therefore has no borough seat. On January 2, 2019, it was split from the Valdez–Cordova Census Area, along with neighboring Chugach Census Area.

Copper River Census Area
Borough
Scenic view of Glennallen, the largest community in the Copper River Census Area
Location within the U.S. state of Alaska
Alaska's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 62°02′N 143°55′W
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Founded	January 2, 2019[1]
Named after	Copper River
Largest CDP	Glennallen
Area
• Total	24,692 sq mi (63,950 km2)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,589
• Density	0.105/sq mi (0.041/km2)
Time zone	UTC−9 (Alaska)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−8 (ADT)
Congressional district	At-large

As of the 2020 census, the census area had a population of 2,617; its largest communities are the census-designated places of Glennallen and Copper Center.^[2]

It is named after Copper River that has rich fish and flows through the census area.

Demographics

According to the 2010 United States Census (in which it was reported as the "Copper River Census Subarea"), the census area had a population of 2,952; 2,229 (75.5%) of whom were over the age of 18, and 321 (10.9%) of whom were over the age of 65. 2,032 residents (68.8%) were reported as White alone (2,020/68.4% non-Hispanic white), 11 (0.4%) as Black, 678 (23.0%) as American Indian or Alaska Native, 11 (0.4%) as Asian, 13 (0.4%) as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 5 (0.2%) as some other race, and 202 (6.9%) as two or more races. 53 people (1.8%) were Hispanic or Latino (they may be of any of the above racial categories).^[3]

Communities

Census-designated places

• Chisana
• Chistochina
• Chitina
• Copper Center
• Gakona
• Glennallen
• Gulkana
• Kenny Lake
• McCarthy
• Mendeltna
• Mentasta Lake
• Nabesna
• Nelchina
• Paxson
• Silver Springs
• Slana
• Tazlina
• Tolsona
• Tonsina
• Willow Creek

Unincorporated communities

• Copperville (Also a former CDP)

Politics

Copper River Census Area is a Republican stronghold. It has only voted in two elections (2020 and 2024) since its creation; yet it gave around two-thirds of its vote to Donald Trump in each. Thus, this is one of six counties or county equivalents that have voted Republican for president in every election since they came into existence.^[a]

United States presidential election results for Copper River Census Area, Alaska^[4]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	995	69.63%	359	25.12%	75	5.25%
2020	1,130	66.90%	480	28.42%	79	4.68%

Notes

1. Along with Leslie County, Kentucky (since 1880); Doniphan County, Kansas (since 1864); Poquoson, Virginia (since 1976); Colonial Heights, Virginia (since 1952); and Chugach Census Area, Alaska (since 2020).