Residential remodelers: up 52.1 percent
The fastest growth in the table, and 97 of every 100 are small, with 0 having 20 or more staff. A crowded, owner-run field that keeps adding shops. Speed to respond and a strong portfolio page matter here.
Fifteen trades, one table 
5.0 Rating on Google
The Anchorage Business Landscape, Trade by Trade
The Anchorage business landscape is easiest to read one trade at a time. Some fields are crowded, some are thin, some are growing and some are shrinking, and the right marketing plan differs for each. We took fifteen trades from County Business Patterns and set them beside the population, so you can see how much local competition your field faces, how large the businesses are and how much growth or shrinkage came after 2017.
5.0 Rating on Google- 8,777Employer business locations, 2022
- 138,075Employees at those locations
- 286,075Residents, 2023 estimate
- -1.8 percentPopulation change, 2020 to 2023
The full table
All Fifteen Anchorage Trades Next to the Typical County
Each row shows employer locations in 2022, how many that is per 10,000 residents (a plain measure of business density), how that compares with a typical county of 20,000 or more people, the share that have fewer than ten staff, the count with 20 or more, and the change since 2017. County Business Patterns counts employer locations only, so a solo operator with no employees is not in these numbers. Treat the table as a snapshot, not a live count.
| Trade | Locations | Per 10,000 residents | Versus typical county | Under 10 staff | With 20+ staff | Change since 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential remodelers | 146 | 5.1 | 1.6 times | 97 of 100 | 0 | +52.1 percent |
| Roofing contractors | 34 | 1.2 | 1.4 times | 74 of 100 | 0 | +17.2 percent |
| Electrical contractors | 87 | 3 | 1.3 times | 75 of 100 | 8 | +3.6 percent |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 90 | 3.1 | 1 times | 64 of 100 | 11 | -12.6 percent |
| Insurance agencies and brokerages | 83 | 2.9 | 0.8 times | 83 of 100 | 4 | -17.8 percent |
| Real estate agents and brokers | 164 | 5.7 | 2.1 times | 96 of 100 | 0 | +31.2 percent |
| Law offices | 211 | 7.4 | 2.5 times | 85 of 100 | 6 | -17.6 percent |
| Accounting and CPA firms | 79 | 2.8 | 2 times | 87 of 100 | 4 | +6.8 percent |
| Janitorial services | 103 | 3.6 | 2.1 times | 75 of 100 | 17 | -4.6 percent |
| Landscaping services | 101 | 3.5 | 1.1 times | 78 of 100 | 10 | +21.7 percent |
| Physicians offices | 250 | 8.7 | 2.1 times | 71 of 100 | 38 | -16.9 percent |
| Dentists | 153 | 5.3 | 1.9 times | 71 of 100 | 8 | -11 percent |
| Full-service restaurants | 216 | 7.6 | 1.1 times | 46 of 100 | 63 | -9.6 percent |
| General automotive repair | 79 | 2.8 | 1.1 times | 84 of 100 | 0 | +9.7 percent |
| Beauty salons | 60 | 2.1 | 1.1 times | 80 of 100 | 0 | +7.1 percent |
Census County Business Patterns 2022 (employer locations only, so sole proprietors are not counted) against 2017. Typical county means the median county with 20,000 or more residents.
Crowded versus thin
Which Anchorage Trades Are Crowded and Which Have Room
The most crowded fields relative to a typical county are law offices at 2.5 times, janitorial services at 2.1 times, physician offices at 2.1 times, real estate agents and brokers at 2.1 times and accounting and CPA firms at 2 times. Law offices alone number 211 locations. Dentists, at 1.9 times, and residential remodelers, at 1.6 times, follow close behind. In a crowded field the first marketing job is to stand apart. A page that names a specialty and an area beats a general page, and a review profile that is current matters more.
Insurance agencies are the thinnest field in the Anchorage table, at 0.8 times the typical county and 83 locations. Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning is just under typical, at 1 times, with 90 locations. Landscaping is 1.1 times, general automotive repair 1.1 times, restaurants 1.1 times and beauty salons 1.1 times. These are close to the county norm, which does not mean they are easy; it means the national pattern of competition applies here. In close-to-typical fields, tracking and speed of response tend to decide who wins.
Remember what the ratio measures. Anchorage is a gateway, and customers, patients and clients come in from across the state, so a field with a high count per resident may be serving a market bigger than the municipality itself. That could explain some of the density in health care and law, though the numbers alone do not prove it.
What moved since 2017
Growth and Shrinkage in the Anchorage Employer Count
The change column in the table is the number of employer locations in 2022 against 2017. A growing field means more competition for the same searches. A shrinking field may mean opportunity, or it may mean a shrinking market. We read the change next to the facts about the place.
Real estate agents and brokers: up 31.2 percent
More agents and brokers competing for the same buyers and sellers, almost all small offices. Specialized neighborhood pages help one name stand apart.
Landscaping services: up 21.7 percent
Growth in a field with a short season, just over 101 frost-free days. 10 locations have 20 or more staff, so a few firms are large.
Roofing contractors: up 17.2 percent
A smaller trade that grew. Roofing demand is tied to snow load and summer repair windows, and 74 of every 100 shops are small.
Insurance agencies and brokerages: down 17.8 percent
The steepest decline in the table. Fewer agencies may mean the remaining ones can win searches more easily, but only if they are visible.
Law offices: down 17.6 percent
Still the most crowded field, even after the drop. 6 offices have 20 or more staff and 25 are mid-sized.
Physicians offices: down 16.9 percent
The largest count in the table. 38 have 20 or more staff, the biggest number after restaurants.
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors: down 12.6 percent
A field that lost locations while 11 large firms and 19 mid-sized ones remain. Our research also notes a decade of negative net migration for Anchorage.
Size matters
How Large Anchorage Businesses Are, and Why It Matters for Marketing
The size mix says who you compete with, and most of them are small businesses. Remodelers, real estate and roofing are almost entirely small: 97, 96 and 74 of every 100 have fewer than ten staff. In those fields you are likely competing with other owner-operators, and a modest budget with good tracking can be enough. Restaurants are the opposite. Only 46 of every 100 are small, and 63 locations have 20 or more staff. Physician offices have 38 such locations and janitorial services 17.
A field with a handful of large firms often has a different search pattern. The large ones tend to have the biggest websites and the most reviews, and a small competitor does better with a narrow service page than with a general one. That is why we look at the 37 mid-sized dentists and the 35 mid-sized physician offices separately from the large ones.
The other side of size is the mix of industries around it. In the survey, health care and social assistance is the largest sector with 22,366 workers, 15.7 percent. Retail trade follows at 10.7 percent and public administration at 9.9 percent. Our research adds that about 6,800 state employees work in Anchorage and that the military base counts over 5,500 joint personnel in one air base wing alone.
New construction
New Homes Authorized in Anchorage Each Year
Building permits are a clue to how much new construction is under way and which trades may be busy. The table shows new residential units authorized each year from the Building Permits Survey. The 2021 figure is far above later years and the later years are much lower, so we read the pattern carefully rather than assume a trend.
| Year | New residential units authorized |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,133 |
| 2022 | 155 |
| 2023 | 299 |
| 2024 | 341 |
| 2025 | 278 |
Census Building Permits Survey, new privately owned housing units authorized by permit.
Putting it together
What These Numbers Mean for Your Marketing
Look at the permit table beside the trade table. In 2021, 1,133 new units were authorized. In 2022 it was 155, then 299, 341 and 278. A contractor who plans around a surge that has faded risks overspending, while a remodeler may benefit as homes age. Our research also notes that construction led job growth at 9.2 percent in 2024, helped by more than 5 billion dollars of federal infrastructure funding for Alaska. Different measures, different periods, and none of them a prediction for your business.
Population is the other check. The 2023 estimate counts 286,075 residents, a change of -1.8 percent from 2020. Our research adds that the working-age population is down about 19,000, roughly 6 percent, from its 2013 peak. Fewer residents may mean fewer new customers, but Anchorage also serves people from outside it, so it matters which customers you want.
From these numbers we shape the plan. In a crowded, growing field we lean on distinct pages and paid search. In a thin field we keep the cost down and focus on being found when a customer looks. Ask for a look at your trade, or see how this feeds the questions to ask any SEO company and the PPC plan by trade.
Pricing
Starting Points for Every Kind of Trade in the Table
The same four plans apply across the table. What changes is which one fits a crowded field and which fits a thin one. Every plan is month to month, with no setup fee and no contract.
Landscape questions
Questions About Reading the Anchorage Trade Numbers
What does Anchorage business landscape analysis cost?
Reading the numbers is part of our process, not a separate fee. Marketing plans start at $495 a month for RankGuarantee™ landing pages, and Organic Growth begins at $1,495 a month. Paid ads management begins at $895 a month for one platform, and ad spend is paid separately to the platform. No setup fee and no contract.
Where do these counts come from, and are they current?
They are County Business Patterns counts of employer locations for 2017 and 2022, plus Census American Community Survey estimates for 2018 to 2022 and a Building Permits Survey series. They are snapshots, not live counts, and sole proprietors with no employees are not included, so the real number of working businesses is larger than any row shows.
Does a high ratio mean my trade is oversaturated?
Not necessarily. The ratio compares locations per resident with a typical county, and Anchorage draws customers from across the state, so a high ratio signals strong competition for searches rather than a market with no room. It tells you to stand out with a specific service page and a current review profile.
Why do the trades shrink even though construction grew?
They measure different things. The trade table counts employer locations, while our research reports job growth in construction in 2024. A field can add jobs while the number of separate shops falls, or the reverse, so we never use one figure to explain the other, and we read both against the calendar.
How do I use the size mix?
If most competitors are small, speed of response and local detail win. If large firms dominate, find a narrow service, area or type of customer they underserve. The table shows both the share with fewer than ten staff and the count with 20 or more, so you can see which situation you are in.
Do the permit numbers predict my busy season?
No. They show new units authorized each year, and the 2021 number is far above the later ones, so a simple trend line would mislead you. They are context for a remodeler, an electrician or a roofer deciding how hard to push, not a forecast of next spring's calendar.
Is my trade missing from the table?
The table covers fifteen trades, and we can look at others. Tell us what you do and we will describe where you sit in Anchorage and who you compete with, using the same data sources. If the trade is not in County Business Patterns, we say so and work from your own numbers instead.
Explore more
Take the Numbers Into Your Plan
Start Here
- Search Engine OptimizationAnchorage SEO services, name by name: which places and services get their own page, and how each page is built.
- SEO CompanyWhat to ask any Anchorage SEO company before you sign, and how the county's size and trade crowding change what a proposal must contain.
- Digital MarketingWhich digital marketing work comes first, second and third for three kinds of Anchorage business, read from the trade counts and Census numbers.
- Online MarketingAn audit of the website, listings, reviews, social, email and tracking for each kind of Anchorage business, read against Census benchmarks.
- Anchorage SEOAnchorage SEO first, then digital marketing, online marketing and PPC, planned zone by zone for a municipality of separate pockets.
Get Found in Search
- Google Maps and Local SEOAnchorage local SEO for storefronts, service-area businesses and companies that work across several pockets of the municipality.
- AI Search OptimizationAnchorage AI search optimization: the questions people ask assistants about Anchorage places, trades and seasons, and what to publish.
Paid Advertising
- Google Ads ManagementGoogle Ads for Anchorage businesses: which zones to target or exclude, running a call-driven account, and pacing spend against the weather and the calendar.
- PPC ManagementPay-per-click for Anchorage businesses across Google Ads, Bing, Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) and a small ChatGPT ads test, and when paid beats organic.
- Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram)Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) for Anchorage businesses: audiences by age and household, targeting by zone, event timing, offers and honest limits.
Website and Content
- Anchorage lead generationWhere inquiries come from for each trade in Anchorage, how fast to answer, and how to count them without renting anyone else's audience.
- Anchorage web designOne website with a page for each service and each pocket of the municipality, built so a phone user can call or get directions in one tap.
- Anchorage content marketingA publishing calendar set by daylight, snow, events and the names people use for places in the municipality.
Around the County
- Anchorage coverage mapThe municipality area by area: which zones sit near each other, which roads join them and how a business should cover them.
- Anchorage business landscape (you are here)Fifteen trades read one by one: how crowded each is, how large the businesses are, what changed since 2017, and how many new homes were authorized.
Get in Touch
Ask How Your Trade Compares
Tell us your trade and we will walk through where you sit in the Anchorage table, who you compete with and what to build first. Call 610-825-4363 or email hello@getphound.com.