Best PlacesLemhi County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lemhi County, 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.
Lemhi County ranks 1,469th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lemhi 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.
Lemhi County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lemhi County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- QuietBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of counties
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
Where Lemhi County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of counties
- Household income$54,231 median, better than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lemhi County
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lemhi County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,231, 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 Lemhi County's effective rate of 0.31%, 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 Lemhi County
Lemhi County 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 Lemhi County.
Who works in Lemhi County, and how
Work in Lemhi County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Lemhi County
Lemhi County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Lemhi County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lemhi County growing, and who is moving in?
Lemhi County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Missoula, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lemhi County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lemhi County, month by month
Lemhi County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 18° | 8° |
| April | 61° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 50° |
| October | 60° | 43° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Lemhi County
The nearest airport, Bert Mooney, is about 87 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 159 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lemhi County
Schools across Lemhi County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Elk City SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Upper Carmen Public Charter SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Salmon Pioneer Primary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fern-waters Public Charter SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Mackay Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Salmon Jr/sr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Challis Jr/sr High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lemhi County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lemhi 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 Lemhi County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lemhi County
Is Lemhi County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lemhi County ranks 1,469th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and quiet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lemhi County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $334,434. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $54,231 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Lemhi County safe?
Yes, Lemhi County is safer than 83% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $286 per resident a year.
Compare Lemhi County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lemhi County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lemhi 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.
Lemhi County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lemhi County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lemhi County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lemhi County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lemhi County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lemhi 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.