Best PlacesBannock County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bannock County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bannock County ranks 271st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bannock County
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.
Bannock County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bannock County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 90% of counties
Where Bannock County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 9% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bannock County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bannock County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $74,447; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Bannock County's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Bannock County
Bannock County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bannock County.
Who works in Bannock County, and how
Work in Bannock County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Bannock County
Bannock County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Bannock County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bannock County growing, and who is moving in?
Bannock County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Boise, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bannock County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bannock County, month by month
Bannock County sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 62° | 46° | 31° |
| July | 93° | 74° | 51° |
| October | 65° | 47° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Bannock County
The nearest airport, Pocatello Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bannock County
Schools across Bannock County average a B+, better than 82% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Edahow Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Lava Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Gate City Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beutler Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Franklin Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Alameda Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Century High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Pocatello High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Highland High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bannock County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bannock County 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 Bannock County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bannock County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bannock County
Is Bannock County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bannock County ranks 271st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low crime, and cell coverage, and lowest on noise 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 Bannock County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,220. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $74,447 median income, cost of living beats 75% of counties.
Is Bannock County safe?
Yes, Bannock County is safer than 97% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $230 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bannock County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 16. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of counties.
Is Bannock County good for families?
Schools beat 82% of counties, crime safety beats 97%, and childcare runs $581 a month.
Compare Bannock County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bannock County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bannock County 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.
Bannock County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bannock County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bannock County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bannock County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bannock County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bannock County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.