Best PlacesIdaho, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Idaho, 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.
Idaho ranks 35,833rd 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 Idaho
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.
Idaho's strengths and weaknesses
Where Idaho ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
- QuietBetter than 76% of towns
Where Idaho ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Short commute33.3 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Idaho
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Idaho home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,242, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Idaho's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Idaho
Idaho runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Idaho.
Who works in Idaho, and how
Work in Idaho centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Idaho
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Idaho.
What the weather is like in Idaho, month by month
Idaho sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Idaho
The nearest airport, Northwest Alabama Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Idaho
Schools across Idaho average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Prospect ElementaryC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Summertown High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Idaho school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Idaho 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 Idaho against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Idaho
Is Idaho a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Idaho ranks 35,833rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Idaho expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,712. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $63,242 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Idaho safe?
Idaho is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
Compare Idaho with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Idaho. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Idaho 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.
Idaho detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Idaho: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Idaho: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Idaho: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Idaho: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Idaho 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.