Best PlacesKootenai County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kootenai County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kootenai County ranks 148th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $86,422, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are an overheated housing market, noise, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Kootenai 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.
The best areas in Kootenai County
The parts of Kootenai County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Hayden
Fewer homes sit empty, more residents vote, and more households have young kids.
Athol
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
Coeur d'Alene
Commutes are shorter, though it is noisier.
Rathdrum
Fewer adults hold degrees and streets are more car-dependent.
Post Falls
Health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Kootenai County run from about the 22nd to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Kootenai County's strengths and weaknesses
Kootenai County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low disaster risk and fast internet follow.
The one real hole is an overheated housing market, near the bottom of the country. Noise and air quality also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Kootenai County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
Where Kootenai County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 23% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 27% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 42% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kootenai County
A household needs to earn about $135,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kootenai County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,422, 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 Kootenai County's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 Kootenai County
Kootenai County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kootenai County.
Who works in Kootenai County, and how
Work in Kootenai County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Kootenai County
Kootenai County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kootenai County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kootenai County growing, and who is moving in?
Kootenai County has grown about 28% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Spokane, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kootenai County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kootenai County, month by month
Kootenai County sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 88° | 72° | 53° |
| October | 60° | 47° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Kootenai County
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 256 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kootenai County
Schools across Kootenai County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Harrison Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Sorensen Magnet School Of The Arts And HumanitiesA+ · 75% proficient
- Hayden Meadows Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- Canfield Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Timberlake Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Post Falls Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Coeur D'alene Charter Academy SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Coeur D'alene High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Lakeland Senior High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kootenai County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kootenai 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 Kootenai County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kootenai County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of counties and health care access beats 56%.
Common questions about living in Kootenai County
Is Kootenai County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kootenai County ranks 148th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, low disaster risk, and fast internet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kootenai County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $546,528. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $86,422 median income, cost of living beats 78% of counties.
Is Kootenai County safe?
Yes, Kootenai County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $194 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kootenai County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 24. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kootenai County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hayden, Athol, and Coeur d'Alene. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kootenai County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Is Kootenai County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 96% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kootenai County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kootenai County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kootenai 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.
Kootenai County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kootenai County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kootenai County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kootenai County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kootenai County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kootenai 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.