Best PlacesNez Perce County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nez Perce County, 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.
Nez Perce County ranks 179th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Nez Perce 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.
Nez Perce County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nez Perce County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Short commute16.7 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
Where Nez Perce County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 38% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 45% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nez Perce County
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nez Perce County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,642, 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 Nez Perce County's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Nez Perce County
Nez Perce County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nez Perce County.
Who works in Nez Perce County, and how
Work in Nez Perce County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Nez Perce County
Nez Perce County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of counties and more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Nez Perce County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nez Perce County growing, and who is moving in?
Nez Perce County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lewiston, ID metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nez Perce County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nez Perce County, month by month
Nez Perce County 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 Nez Perce County
The nearest airport, Lewiston/Nez Perce County, is about 3 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 Nez Perce County
Schools across Nez Perce County average a B, better than 75% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Mcsorley Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Orchards 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
- Orofino High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nez Perce County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nez Perce 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 Nez Perce County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Nez Perce County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 79% of counties and health care access beats 60%.
Common questions about living in Nez Perce County
Is Nez Perce County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nez Perce County ranks 179th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, state finances, and low disaster risk, and lowest on distance from a big city 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 Nez Perce County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $343,582. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $76,642 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Nez Perce County safe?
Yes, Nez Perce County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nez Perce County?
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 79% of counties.
Is Nez Perce County good for families?
Schools beat 75% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Compare Nez Perce County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nez Perce County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nez Perce 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.
Nez Perce County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nez Perce County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nez Perce County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nez Perce County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nez Perce County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nez Perce 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.