Best PlacesLewiston, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Lewiston metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Dsdugan, via commons
Lewiston ranks 39th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: everyday costs run well below the national average, and crime is low. The trade is distance from a big city: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in the Lewiston metro
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.
Lewiston's strengths and weaknesses
Lewiston ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Short commutes is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Quiet and cheap car insurance follow.
The one real hole is distance from a big city, near the bottom of the country. Internet speeds and tree cover also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Lewiston ranks high
- Short commute16.3 minutes each way, better than 99% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 93% of metro areas
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of metro areas
Where Lewiston ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than only 34% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than only 34% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Lewiston
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lewiston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,619, 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 Lewiston's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Lewiston
Lewiston 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 Lewiston.
Who works in Lewiston, and how
Work in Lewiston centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lewiston
Lewiston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of metro areas. That concentrates in some parts of Lewiston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lewiston growing, and who is moving in?
Lewiston has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Latah County, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lewiston go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lewiston, month by month
Lewiston sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 95° | 78° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Lewiston
The nearest airport, Lewiston/Nez Perce County, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lewiston
Schools across Lewiston average a B, better than 68% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Mcsorley Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Orchards Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Camelot Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sacajawea Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Jenifer Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Lewiston High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Prairie Jr/sr High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lewiston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lewiston 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 Lewiston against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Lewiston suits
Retirees
The weather beats 76% of metro areas and it is quieter than 93%.
Common questions about living in Lewiston
Is Lewiston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lewiston ranks 39th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on short commutes, quiet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lewiston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $334,365. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $75,619 median income, cost of living beats 52% of metro areas.
Is Lewiston safe?
Yes, Lewiston is safer than 93% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lewiston?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 28. That works out to about 126 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of metro areas.
Is Lewiston good for families?
Schools beat 68% of metro areas, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $858 a month.
Is Lewiston good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 52% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 11% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lewiston with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lewiston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lewiston 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.
Lewiston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lewiston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lewiston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lewiston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lewiston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lewiston 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.