Best PlacesGem County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gem 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.
Gem County ranks 836th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gem 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.
Gem County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gem County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
Where Gem County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Short commute30.4 minutes each way, better than only 14% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gem County
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gem County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,855, 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 Gem County's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Gem County
Gem County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gem County.
Who works in Gem County, and how
Work in Gem County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Gem County
Gem County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 78% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gem County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gem County growing, and who is moving in?
Gem County has grown about 31% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Boise, ID metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gem County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gem County, month by month
Gem County sees roughly 86 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 Gem County
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 26 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 Gem County
Schools across Gem County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sweet Montour Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Ola Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Cascade Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Emmett Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Emmett High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Black Canyon Jr/sr High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gem County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gem 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 Gem County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Gem County
Is Gem County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gem County ranks 836th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gem County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $424,167. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $69,855 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Gem County safe?
Yes, Gem County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
Compare Gem County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gem County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gem 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.
Gem County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gem County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gem County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gem County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gem County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gem 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.