Hooper Bay () is a city in

Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska Kusilvak Census Area, formerly known as Wade Hampton Census Area, is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,368, up from 7,459 in 2010. It is part of the Unorganized Borough and therefo ...

, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 1,375, up from 1,093 in 2010. On August 3, 2006, a major fire destroyed approximately fifteen acres of the city including thirty-five structures, twelve homes, the elementary school, middle school, high school, teacher housing complex, stores, offices and storage shelters, leaving 70 people homeless.

Geography and climate

Hooper Bay is located at (61.528980, -166.096196), south of Cape Romanzof and south of Scammon Bay in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The city is separated into two sections: a heavily built-up townsite located on gently rolling hills, and a newer section in the lowlands. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.91%) is water. Hooper Bay is located within the

polar climate The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than . Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of ...

zone (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''ET''), because the hottest month is only . It is atypical of polar climates in having winters sufficiently moderated by the sea that

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

is merely

sporadic The qualification sporadic, indicating that occurrences of some phenomenon are rare and not systematic, can be used for: Mathematics * Sporadic group, any of a small number of finite groups that do not fit into any infinite family of groups Medic ...

, and in seeing heavy late summer rainfall more typical of

subpolar oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

s. The substantial maritime moderation, however, means snowfall is heavy, exceeding or approaching for eight months of the year

Demographics

Hooper Bay first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an

Yup'ik The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik ( own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an ...

settlement of Askinuk. On the 1890 census, it returned as Askinaghamiut. It did not appear again until 1930, when it was first returned as Hooper Bay. It formally incorporated in 1966. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,014 people, 227 households, and 187 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 239 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 4.24%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 93.69% Native American, and 2.07% from two or more races. 0.10% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 227 households, out of which 61.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.4% were married couples living together, 30.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.6% were non-families. 15.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 0.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.47 and the average family size was 4.97. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 49.2% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 11.5% from 45 to 64, and 5.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 18 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $26,667, and the median income for a family was $27,500. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $32,083 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $7,841. About 28.4% of families and 27.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 31.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade attend Hooper Bay School, also known as Naparyarmiut Elicarviat, administered by the

Lower Yukon School District Lower Yukon School District is a school district headquartered in Mountain Village, Alaska, serving the Kusilvak Census Area. As of the 2017-18 school year, it has 1,998 students across 10 schools. 91% are American Indian or Alaska Native and 5 ...

. It is a bilingual school with a Yup'ik language immersion program in kindergarten through third grade, the first program of its kind in the district. High school students have the option of the state's public boarding schools, Nenana Student Living Center and Mt. Edgecumbe High School.

In popular culture

* Hooper Bay is the title of an electronic music album by

Boards of Canada Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of the brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin. Signing first to Skam Records, Skam followed by Warp (record label), Warp Records in the 1990s, they received recognition following th ...

. * An incident in Hooper Bay is featured in Season 4, Episode 8 of

Alaska State Troopers The Alaska State Troopers, officially the Division of Alaska State Troopers (AST), is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a division of the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS). The AST is a full-service law enforcem ...

References

Photographs