09/24/2026
$700 to fill up one truck. That’s a real receipt from Noatak, Alaska.
There’s no road here and no barge. The river channel shifted, so every drop of fuel is flown in. Gas runs about $25 a gallon, while Anchorage pays around $5. That same $700 would fill this truck about five times in Anchorage.
A four-wheeler costs $150 to fill. A boat, even more. And heating our homes is just as hard: one drum of stove oil runs around $1,375. When it’s 40 below, heat isn’t optional. It’s survival.
When families have to choose between heating the house and gassing up the Honda or boat, subsistence get cut. That means less caribou, fish, and berries on our tables, and more store-bought food that costs more and nourishes less.
We hear it all the time: “Why don’t you just move?”
Because Noatak isn’t just where we live. It’s who we are. For generations, our ancestors followed the seasons, moving with the caribou, the fish, and the berries as the seasons changed. About a hundred years ago, our families were told to settle in one place, and they did, building a community here along the river. Our elders, families, language, and knowledge of this land are here. Moving costs money most families don’t have, city housing is hard to find, and leaving means losing the way of life that sustains us.
Nobody tells farm towns or fishing towns to just pack up and leave when times get hard. The real question is why it costs this much to live on our own land, and what we can do about it.
What does it cost to fill up where you live? Tell us in the comments, and tag someone who’s never heard what life in rural Alaska really costs.
