Best PlacesGem, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gem, 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.
Gem ranks 44,586th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gem
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gem ranks high
- Short commute10.2 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
Where Gem ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$39,153 median, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gem
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $39,153, 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's effective rate of 0.60%, 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
Gem 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 Gem.
Who works in Gem, and how
Work in Gem centers on hospitality & food and arts & entertainment. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Gem
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gem.
What the weather is like in Gem, month by month
Gem sees roughly 82 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 Gem
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 274 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gem
Schools across Gem average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Silver Hills Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Wallace Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gem school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gem 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gem
Is Gem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gem ranks 44,586th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, state finances, and heat safety, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,300. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $39,153 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Gem safe?
Gem is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
Compare Gem with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gem 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gem 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.