Best Places83686, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 83686, 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.
83686 ranks 4,675th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 83686
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.
83686's strengths and weaknesses
Where 83686 ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 83686 ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- School gradeC, better than only 33% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 83686
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 83686 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,651, 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 83686's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 83686
83686 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 83686.
Who works in 83686, and how
Work in 83686 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 83686
83686 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 83686 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 83686, month by month
83686 sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 95° | 79° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 83686
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 17 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 83686
Schools across 83686 average a C, better than 33% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Legacy Charter SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- West Canyon Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Melba Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vallivue Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Marsing Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Lone Star Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Marsing High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Melba High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Vallivue High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 83686 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
83686 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 83686 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 83686 suits
Families
Schools land around the 33rd percentile and crime safety beats 97%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 83686
Is 83686 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 83686 ranks 4,675th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, low disaster risk, and low crime, and lowest on tree cover and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 83686 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $437,117. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $87,651 median income, cost of living beats 67% of zip codes.
Is 83686 safe?
Yes, 83686 is safer than 97% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 83686?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 26. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of zip codes.
Is 83686 good for families?
Schools beat 33% of zip codes, crime safety beats 97%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Compare 83686 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 83686. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 83686 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.
83686 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 83686: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 83686: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 83686: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 83686: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
83686 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.