Best PlacesCaribou County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Caribou 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.
Caribou County ranks 820th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Caribou 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.
Caribou County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Caribou County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of counties
Where Caribou County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Caribou County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Caribou County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,277, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Caribou County's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Caribou County
Caribou County 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 Caribou County.
Who works in Caribou County, and how
Work in Caribou County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Caribou County
Caribou County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Caribou County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Caribou County growing, and who is moving in?
Caribou County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pocatello, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Caribou County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Caribou County, month by month
Caribou County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 15° | 5° |
| April | 49° | 36° | 26° |
| July | 81° | 62° | 43° |
| October | 56° | 39° | 27° |
Flying in and out of Caribou County
The nearest airport, Pocatello Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Caribou County
Schools across Caribou County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Inkom Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- North Gem ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Howard E Thirkill Primary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Etna ElementaryA · 60% proficient
- North Gem Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Marsh Valley Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Grace Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Century High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Soda Springs High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Caribou County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Caribou 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 Caribou County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Caribou County
Is Caribou County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Caribou County ranks 820th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and state finances, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Caribou County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,449. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $70,277 median income, cost of living beats 53% of counties.
Is Caribou County safe?
Yes, Caribou County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $257 per resident a year.
Compare Caribou County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Caribou County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Caribou 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.
Caribou County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Caribou County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Caribou County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Caribou County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Caribou County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Caribou 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.