Best PlacesCaldwell, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Caldwell, 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.
Caldwell ranks 1,165th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Caldwell
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.
Caldwell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Caldwell ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 92% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of cities
Where Caldwell ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Caldwell
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Caldwell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,513, 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 Caldwell's effective rate of 0.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Caldwell
Caldwell 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 Caldwell.
Who works in Caldwell, and how
Work in Caldwell centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Caldwell
Caldwell has more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Caldwell and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Caldwell, month by month
Caldwell sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 51° | 36° |
| July | 96° | 78° | 58° |
| October | 68° | 51° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Caldwell
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 23 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 Caldwell
Schools across Caldwell average a C+, better than 31% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- West Canyon Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- New Plymouth ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Maxine Johnson ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Plymouth Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Middleton Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Parma Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Marsing High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Emmett High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Vallivue AcademyB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Caldwell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Caldwell 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 Caldwell against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Caldwell suits
Families
Schools land around the 31st percentile and crime safety beats 82%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Caldwell
Is Caldwell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Caldwell ranks 1,165th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, 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 Caldwell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,725. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $77,513 median income, cost of living beats 33% of cities.
Is Caldwell safe?
Yes, Caldwell is safer than 82% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $255 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Caldwell?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 23. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of cities.
Is Caldwell good for families?
Schools beat 31% of cities, crime safety beats 82%, and childcare runs $740 a month.
Compare Caldwell with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Caldwell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Caldwell 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.
Caldwell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Caldwell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Caldwell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Caldwell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Caldwell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Caldwell 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.