Best PlacesRathdrum, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rathdrum, 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.
Rathdrum ranks 3,942nd 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 Rathdrum
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.
Rathdrum's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rathdrum ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
Where Rathdrum ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 24% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 34% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rathdrum
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rathdrum home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,027, 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 Rathdrum's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Rathdrum
Rathdrum's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rathdrum.
Who works in Rathdrum, and how
Work in Rathdrum centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Rathdrum
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rathdrum.
What the weather is like in Rathdrum, month by month
Rathdrum sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 88° | 72° | 53° |
| October | 60° | 47° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Rathdrum
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 254 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rathdrum
Schools across Rathdrum average a B+, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Twin Lakes Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Betty Kiefer Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Ponderosa Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Timberlake Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Post Falls Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- River City Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeland Senior High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Timberlake Senior High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Post Falls High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rathdrum school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rathdrum 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 Rathdrum against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rathdrum
Is Rathdrum a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rathdrum ranks 3,942nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low disaster risk, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rathdrum expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $516,135. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $90,027 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Rathdrum safe?
Yes, Rathdrum is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $166 per resident a year.
Compare Rathdrum with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rathdrum. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rathdrum 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.
Rathdrum detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rathdrum: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rathdrum: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rathdrum: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rathdrum: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rathdrum 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.