Best PlacesMinidoka County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Minidoka 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.
Minidoka County ranks 773rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Minidoka 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.
Minidoka County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Minidoka County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of counties
Where Minidoka County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Minidoka County
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Minidoka County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $68,194; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Minidoka County's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Minidoka County
Minidoka County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Minidoka County.
Who works in Minidoka County, and how
Work in Minidoka County centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Minidoka County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Minidoka County.
Is Minidoka County growing, and who is moving in?
Minidoka County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cassia County, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Minidoka County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Minidoka County, month by month
Minidoka County sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 29° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 47° | 33° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 66° | 49° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Minidoka County
The nearest airport, Joslin Field/Magic Valley Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Minidoka County
Schools across Minidoka County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Paul Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Acequia Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Heyburn Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Minico Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- West Minico Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Minico Senior High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Mt Harrison High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Minidoka County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Minidoka 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 Minidoka County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Minidoka County suits
Families
Schools land around the 35th percentile and crime safety beats 67%.
Common questions about living in Minidoka County
Is Minidoka County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Minidoka County ranks 773rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on tree cover 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 Minidoka County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,477. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $68,194 median income, cost of living beats 48% of counties.
Is Minidoka County safe?
Yes, Minidoka County is safer than 67% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Minidoka County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 21. That works out to about 155 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of counties.
Is Minidoka County good for families?
Schools beat 35% of counties, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $581 a month.
Compare Minidoka County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Minidoka County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Minidoka 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.
Minidoka County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Minidoka County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Minidoka County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Minidoka County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Minidoka County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Minidoka 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.