Historically, population shifts in Alaska have directly reflected economic and political changes. The Alaska gold rush of the 1890s resulted in a population boom from 32,052 in 1890 to 63,592 a decade later; by the 1920s, however, when mining had declined; Alaska's population had decreased to 55,036. The state's population is much younger than that of the nation as a whole.

The median age was 32.4 in 2000, compared with the national average of 35.3, and only 5.7% of all Alaskans were 65 years of age or older-by far the lowest such percentage in any state-while 30.4% were under 18 years old (compared with the national average of 25.7). Alaska is one of the few states where men outnumber women; as of 2000 men accounted for 51.7% of Alaskan residents.

Alaska's statewide population increased 7.9 percent, or 49,454 people, from 2000 to 2007, based on new population estimates released Friday by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The number of people living in Alaska climbed from 627,533 in 2000 to 676,987 in 2007. In the early 1990s, Alaska added an average of 8,100 people each year through natural increase. A gradual decline in births and a gradual increase in deaths - both tied to an aging population - have resulted in a slowdown in natural increase to about 7,300 people a year.