This article presents the results of a field study of the state and development of the human capital in the Karelian Arctic as a factor in sustainable development of the region during the transition to a new economic and legal regime. The focus of the scientific research is the assessment by the citizens of the level of their well-being and the ability to meet various family needs, personal income planning possibilities, correspondence of the current place of work to the training received in an educational institution. Brief conclusions are made on the indicated aspects of the development of the human capital in the Karelian Arctic region. Data were obtained and an analysis of the situation was made both for the Karelian Arctic as a whole, and for individual municipal districts included in this region. Further research activities to deepen scientific knowledge about the state and trends in the development of the human capital in Arctic Karelia and the Arctic zone of Russia as a whole have been identified. The issues under study are one of the key ones in determining the parameters of the created special economic and legal regime, which applies to Arctic Karelia.