Best PlacesLatah County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Latah 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.
Latah County ranks 186th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Latah 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.
Latah County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Latah County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
Where Latah County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$974 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 46% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Latah County
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Latah County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,316, 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 Latah 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 Latah County
Latah County runs younger 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 Latah County.
Who works in Latah County, and how
Work in Latah County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Latah County
Latah County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of counties and more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Latah County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Latah County growing, and who is moving in?
Latah County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Boise, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Latah County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Latah County, month by month
Latah County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 50° |
| October | 62° | 49° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Latah County
The nearest airport, Pullman/Moscow Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 222 miles away.
The best schools in and around Latah County
Schools across Latah County average a B+, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Troy Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- A B Mcdonald Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Moscow Charter SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moscow Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Moscow High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Troy Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Kendrick Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Latah County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Latah 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 Latah County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Latah County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Latah County
Is Latah County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Latah County ranks 186th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, population health, and state finances, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Latah County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $372,500. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $67,316 median income, cost of living beats 53% of counties.
Is Latah County safe?
Yes, Latah County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Latah County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 26. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Latah County good for families?
Schools beat 85% of counties, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $974 a month.
Compare Latah County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Latah County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Latah 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.
Latah County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Latah County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Latah County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Latah County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Latah County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Latah 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.