Best PlacesHowe, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Howe, 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.
Howe ranks 44,106th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Howe
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.
Howe's strengths and weaknesses
Where Howe ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 128 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
Where Howe ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$36,926 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Howe
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Howe home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $36,926; 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 Howe's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Howe
Howe 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 Howe.
Who works in Howe, and how
Work in Howe centers on agriculture & forestry and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Howe
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Howe.
What the weather is like in Howe, month by month
Howe sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 31° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 58° |
| October | 57° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Howe
The nearest airport, Idaho Falls Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 160 miles away.
The best schools in and around Howe
Schools across Howe average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Arco Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Mackay Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Terreton Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Jefferson Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Butte County Middle/high SchoolB · 48% proficient
- West Jefferson High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Mackay Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Howe school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Howe 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 Howe against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Howe
Is Howe a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Howe ranks 44,106th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on air quality 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 Howe expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,473. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $36,926 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Howe safe?
Howe is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $663 per resident a year.
Compare Howe with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Howe. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Howe 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.
Howe detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Howe: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Howe: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Howe: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Howe: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Howe 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.