Best PlacesCuldesac, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Culdesac, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Culdesac ranks 24,505th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Culdesac
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.
Culdesac's strengths and weaknesses
Where Culdesac ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
Where Culdesac ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Culdesac
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Culdesac home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,429, 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 Culdesac's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Culdesac
Culdesac runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Culdesac.
Who works in Culdesac, and how
Work in Culdesac centers on retail trade and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Culdesac
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Culdesac.
What the weather is like in Culdesac, month by month
Culdesac sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 95° | 78° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Culdesac
The nearest airport, Lewiston/Nez Perce County, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 196 miles away.
The best schools in and around Culdesac
Schools across Culdesac average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lapwai Elementary SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sacajawea Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Lewiston High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Orofino High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Culdesac school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Culdesac 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 Culdesac against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Culdesac
Is Culdesac a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Culdesac ranks 24,505th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job 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 Culdesac expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,601. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $69,429 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Culdesac safe?
Yes, Culdesac is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
Compare Culdesac with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Culdesac. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Culdesac 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.
Culdesac detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Culdesac: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Culdesac: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Culdesac: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Culdesac: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Culdesac 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.