Best PlacesFernwood, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fernwood, 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.
Fernwood ranks 25,461st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fernwood
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.
Fernwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fernwood ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
Where Fernwood ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fernwood
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fernwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $60,342, 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 Fernwood's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Fernwood
Fernwood 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 Fernwood.
Who works in Fernwood, and how
Work in Fernwood centers on transportation & warehousing and other services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Fernwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fernwood.
What the weather is like in Fernwood, month by month
Fernwood sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 23° | 18° |
| April | 43° | 33° | 26° |
| July | 74° | 62° | 53° |
| October | 47° | 38° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Fernwood
The nearest airport, Pullman/Moscow Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 245 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fernwood
Schools across Fernwood average a C+, better than 53% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Potlatch Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Upriver Elementary SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- St Maries Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- St Maries High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Potlatch Jr/sr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fernwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fernwood 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 Fernwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fernwood
Is Fernwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fernwood ranks 25,461st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Fernwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,804. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $60,342 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Fernwood safe?
Yes, Fernwood is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
Compare Fernwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fernwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fernwood 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.
Fernwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fernwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fernwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fernwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fernwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fernwood 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.