Best PlacesMackay, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mackay, 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.
Mackay ranks 13,922nd 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 Mackay
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.
Mackay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mackay ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$492 a month, better than 93% of towns
Where Mackay ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mackay
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mackay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,962, 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 Mackay'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 Mackay
Mackay 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 Mackay.
Who works in Mackay, and how
Work in Mackay centers on professional & technical and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Mackay
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mackay.
What the weather is like in Mackay, month by month
Mackay sees roughly 137 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 Mackay
The nearest airport, Friedman Memorial, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mackay
Schools across Mackay average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stanley Elem/jr High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Mackay Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Challis Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Mackay Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Challis Jr/sr High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mackay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mackay 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 Mackay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mackay
Is Mackay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mackay ranks 13,922nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, 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 Mackay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $365,100. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $72,962 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Mackay safe?
Yes, Mackay is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
Compare Mackay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mackay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mackay 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.
Mackay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mackay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mackay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mackay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mackay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mackay 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.