Best PlacesBonner County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bonner County, 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.
Bonner County ranks 955th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Bonner 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.
Bonner County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bonner County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
Where Bonner County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 27% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bonner County
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bonner County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,242, 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 Bonner County's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Bonner County
Bonner County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bonner County.
Who works in Bonner County, and how
Work in Bonner County centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Bonner County
Bonner County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bonner County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bonner County growing, and who is moving in?
Bonner County has grown about 31% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Coeur D Alene, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bonner County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bonner County, month by month
Bonner County sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 29° | 26° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 68° | 52° |
| October | 56° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Bonner County
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 269 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bonner County
Schools across Bonner County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Northside Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Washington Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Kootenai Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Canfield Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Sandpoint Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Boundary County Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Coeur D'alene High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Timberlake Senior High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Sandpoint High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bonner County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bonner 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 Bonner County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bonner County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of counties and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Bonner County
Is Bonner County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bonner County ranks 955th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, 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 Bonner County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $526,254. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $71,242 median income, cost of living beats 28% of counties.
Is Bonner County safe?
Yes, Bonner County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bonner County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 26. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of counties.
Is Bonner County good for families?
Schools beat 74% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Compare Bonner County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bonner County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bonner 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.
Bonner County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bonner County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bonner County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bonner County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bonner County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bonner 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.