Best PlacesNew Idaho, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Idaho, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
New Idaho ranks 14,647th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New Idaho
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.
New Idaho's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Idaho ranks high
- Short commute10.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Household income$109,766 median, better than 90% of towns
Where New Idaho ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Idaho
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Idaho home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $109,766, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 New Idaho's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 New Idaho
New Idaho runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Idaho.
Who works in New Idaho, and how
Work in New Idaho centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in New Idaho
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Idaho.
What the weather is like in New Idaho, month by month
New Idaho sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 46° |
| October | 66° | 45° | 27° |
Flying in and out of New Idaho
The nearest airport, Rogue Valley International/Medford, is about 124 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 232 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Idaho
Schools across New Idaho average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fremont/hay Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Daly Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeview Senior High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Idaho school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Idaho 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 New Idaho against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Idaho
Is New Idaho a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Idaho ranks 14,647th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, few empty homes, and state infrastructure, 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 New Idaho expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $390,604. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $109,766 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is New Idaho safe?
New Idaho is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $573 per resident a year.
Compare New Idaho with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Idaho. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Idaho 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.
New Idaho detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Idaho: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Idaho: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Idaho: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Idaho: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Idaho 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.