Best PlacesBoundary County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Boundary 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.
Boundary County ranks 989th 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 Boundary 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.
Boundary County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Boundary County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 83% of counties
Where Boundary County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 21% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 23% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Boundary County
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Boundary County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,694, 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 Boundary County's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 Boundary County
Boundary County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Boundary County.
Who works in Boundary County, and how
Work in Boundary County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Boundary County
Boundary County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Boundary County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Boundary County growing, and who is moving in?
Boundary County has grown about 28% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bonner County, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Boundary County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Boundary County, month by month
Boundary County sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 28° | 24° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 70° | 54° |
| October | 55° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Boundary County
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 94 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 291 miles away.
The best schools in and around Boundary County
Schools across Boundary County average a B, better than 75% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Hall Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Valley View Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Naples Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Boundary County Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Bonners Ferry High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Boundary County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Boundary 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 Boundary County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Boundary County
Is Boundary County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Boundary County ranks 989th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, 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 Boundary County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $432,918. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $67,694 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Boundary County safe?
Yes, Boundary County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare Boundary County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Boundary County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Boundary 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.
Boundary County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Boundary County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Boundary County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Boundary County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Boundary County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Boundary 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.