Best Places83638, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 83638, 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.
83638 ranks 13,214th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 83638
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.
83638's strengths and weaknesses
Where 83638 ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Short commute14.6 minutes each way, better than 97% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 83638 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 83638
A household needs to earn about $182,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 83638 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,859, 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 83638's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 83638
83638 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 83638.
Who works in 83638, and how
Work in 83638 centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in 83638
83638 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 83638 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 83638, month by month
83638 sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 22° | 12° |
| April | 52° | 38° | 26° |
| July | 85° | 68° | 48° |
| October | 58° | 42° | 29° |
Flying in and out of 83638
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 92 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 83638
Schools across 83638 average an A, better than 92% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Barbara R Morgan ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Donnelly ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Cascade Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Payette Lakes Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Mccall-donnelly High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Cascade Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Council Jr/sr High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 83638 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
83638 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 83638 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 83638
Is 83638 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 83638 ranks 13,214th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 83638 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $740,997. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $77,859 median income, cost of living beats 21% of zip codes.
Is 83638 safe?
Yes, 83638 is safer than 56% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
Compare 83638 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 83638. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 83638 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.
83638 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 83638: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 83638: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 83638: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 83638: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
83638 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.