Best PlacesClark Fork, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clark Fork, 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.
Clark Fork ranks 28,971st of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Clark Fork
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.
Clark Fork's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clark Fork ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute16.0 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 77% of towns
Where Clark Fork ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clark Fork
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clark Fork home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,647, 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 Clark Fork's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clark Fork
Clark Fork runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clark Fork.
Who works in Clark Fork, and how
Work in Clark Fork centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Clark Fork
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clark Fork.
What the weather is like in Clark Fork, month by month
Clark Fork sees roughly 79 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 Clark Fork
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 74 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 290 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clark Fork
Schools across Clark Fork average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Silver Hills Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Hope Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Southside Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Clark Fork Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Wallace Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clark Fork school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clark Fork 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 Clark Fork against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clark Fork
Is Clark Fork a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clark Fork ranks 28,971st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clark Fork expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $292,724. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $58,647 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Clark Fork safe?
Yes, Clark Fork is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $286 per resident a year.
Compare Clark Fork with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clark Fork. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clark Fork 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.
Clark Fork detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clark Fork: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clark Fork: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clark Fork: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clark Fork: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clark Fork 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.