Best PlacesLost River, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lost River, 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.
Lost River ranks 23,467th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Lost River
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.
Lost River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lost River ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$551 a month, better than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 132 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
Where Lost River ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lost River
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lost River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,083, 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 Lost River's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Lost River
Lost River runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lost River.
Who works in Lost River, and how
Work in Lost River centers on agriculture & forestry and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Lost River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lost River.
What the weather is like in Lost River, month by month
Lost River sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 31° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 58° |
| October | 57° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Lost River
The nearest airport, Friedman Memorial, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lost River
Schools across Lost River average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Arco Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Bellevue Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Mackay Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wood River Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Butte County Middle/high SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Wood River High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Mackay Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lost River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lost River 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 Lost River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lost River
Is Lost River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lost River ranks 23,467th of 50,333 towns. 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 Lost River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $339,120. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $71,083 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Lost River safe?
Yes, Lost River is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
Compare Lost River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lost River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lost River 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.
Lost River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lost River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lost River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lost River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lost River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lost River 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.
- 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.