Best PlacesJerome County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Jerome 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.
Jerome County ranks 816th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Jerome 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.
Jerome County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jerome County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 164 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of counties
Where Jerome County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Jerome County
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jerome County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,402, 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 Jerome County's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Jerome County
Jerome County 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 Jerome County.
Who works in Jerome County, and how
Work in Jerome County centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Jerome County
Jerome County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Jerome County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Jerome County growing, and who is moving in?
Jerome County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Twin Falls, ID metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Jerome County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Jerome County, month by month
Jerome County sees roughly 164 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 48° | 34° |
| July | 93° | 76° | 58° |
| October | 66° | 50° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Jerome County
The nearest airport, Joslin Field/Magic Valley Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 107 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jerome County
Schools across Jerome County average a C−, better than 24% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Paul Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Harrison Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Horizon Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Robert Stuart Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Shoshone Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Jerome Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Canyon Ridge High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Shoshone High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Minico Senior High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jerome County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jerome 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 Jerome County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Jerome County suits
Families
Schools land around the 24th percentile and crime safety beats 74%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Jerome County
Is Jerome County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jerome County ranks 816th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, state finances, and the weather, and lowest on education levels and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jerome County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $288,949. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $76,402 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Jerome County safe?
Yes, Jerome County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $307 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jerome County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 21. That works out to about 164 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of counties.
Is Jerome County good for families?
Schools beat 24% of counties, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $581 a month.
Compare Jerome County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jerome County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jerome 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.
Jerome County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jerome County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jerome County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jerome County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jerome County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jerome 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.