Best PlacesBuhl, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buhl, 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.
Buhl ranks 8,308th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Buhl
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.
Buhl's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buhl ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 154 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
Where Buhl ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 25% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buhl
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buhl home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,315, 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 Buhl's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Buhl
Buhl's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buhl.
Who works in Buhl, and how
Work in Buhl centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Buhl
Buhl has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Buhl and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Buhl, month by month
Buhl sees roughly 154 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 93° | 76° | 59° |
| October | 66° | 49° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Buhl
The nearest airport, Joslin Field/Magic Valley Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buhl
Schools across Buhl average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hollister Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Filer Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Popplewell Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Filer Intermediate SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Buhl Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Wendell Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Wendell High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Filer High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Buhl High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buhl school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buhl 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 Buhl against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buhl
Is Buhl a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buhl ranks 8,308th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buhl expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $336,789. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $74,315 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Buhl safe?
Yes, Buhl is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
Compare Buhl with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buhl. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buhl 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.
Buhl detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buhl: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buhl: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buhl: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buhl: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buhl 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.