Best PlacesPower County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Power 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.
Power County ranks 899th 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 Power 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.
Power County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Power County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Short commute16.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Power County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 19% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Power County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Power County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,821, 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 Power County's effective rate of 0.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Power County
Power County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Power County.
Who works in Power County, and how
Work in Power County centers on agriculture & forestry and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Power County
Power County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Power County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Power County growing, and who is moving in?
Power County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pocatello, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Power County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Power County, month by month
Power County sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 62° | 46° | 31° |
| July | 93° | 74° | 51° |
| October | 65° | 47° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Power County
The nearest airport, Pocatello Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 144 miles away.
The best schools in and around Power County
Schools across Power County average a C+, better than 47% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Arbon Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- J.r. Simplot Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Irving Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- William Thomas Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Marsh Valley High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- American Falls High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Power County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Power 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 Power County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Power County
Is Power County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Power County ranks 899th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, state finances, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Power County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $243,878. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $69,821 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Power County safe?
Yes, Power County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $320 per resident a year.
Compare Power County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Power County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Power 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.
Power County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Power County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Power County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Power County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Power County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Power 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.