Best Places83631, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 83631, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
83631 ranks 13,910th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 83631
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
83631's strengths and weaknesses
Where 83631 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 83631 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Short commute37.4 minutes each way, better than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 83631
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 83631 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,850, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 83631's effective rate of 0.36%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 83631
83631 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 83631.
Who works in 83631, and how
Work in 83631 centers on public administration and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 83631
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 83631.
What the weather is like in 83631, month by month
83631 sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 38° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 83631
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 27 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 59 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 83631
Schools across 83631 average a B−, better than 61% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Basin Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Idaho City High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 83631 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
83631 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 83631 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 83631
Is 83631 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 83631 ranks 13,910th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, state finances, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 83631 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $386,236. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $82,850 median income, cost of living beats 51% of zip codes.
Is 83631 safe?
Yes, 83631 is safer than 96% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $177 per resident a year.
Compare 83631 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 83631. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 83631 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
83631 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 83631: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 83631: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 83631: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 83631: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
83631 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.