Best PlacesGolden, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Golden, 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.
Golden ranks 10,928th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Golden
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.
Golden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Golden ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute13.9 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
Where Golden ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 29% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Golden
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Golden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $77,626; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Golden's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Golden
Golden runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Golden.
Who works in Golden, and how
Work in Golden centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Golden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Golden.
What the weather is like in Golden, month by month
Golden sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 30° | 25° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 85° | 68° | 52° |
| October | 58° | 46° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Golden
The nearest airport, Lewiston/Nez Perce County, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Golden
Schools across Golden average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elk City SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Grangeville Elem/middle SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Clearwater Valley ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Grangeville High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Golden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Golden 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 Golden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Golden
Is Golden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Golden ranks 10,928th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and low property taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Golden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $338,512. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $77,626 median income, cost of living beats 60% of towns.
Is Golden safe?
Yes, Golden is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
Compare Golden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Golden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Golden 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.
Golden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Golden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Golden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Golden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Golden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Golden 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.