Best PlacesWest Bench, Boise, ID Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood in and around West Bench, Boise, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

West Bench, Boise ranks 851st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.

#851
of 5,983 neighborhoods
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Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
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The best neighborhoods in West Bench, Boise

Map of the best neighborhoods in the West Bench, Boise area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
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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.

West Bench, Boise's strengths and weaknesses

Top 1%State finances
Top 1%Cheap car insurance
Top 5%Low disaster risk
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare West Bench, Boise with other neighborhoods.

Where West Bench, Boise ranks high

  • State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
  • Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
  • Crime safetyBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
  • Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 89% of neighborhoods

Where West Bench, Boise ranks low

  • Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
  • Internet speedBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
  • TransitBetter than only 27% of neighborhoods
  • Tree shadeBetter than only 40% of neighborhoods
  • WalkabilityBetter than only 42% of neighborhoods

What it costs to buy a home in West Bench, Boise

A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Bench, Boise home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,224, so buying stretches a typical household.

Income to buy the median home
$107,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$2,506
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $420,458 home
Median rent
$1,683
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$2,144
Property tax$222
Homeowners insurance$140

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 West Bench, Boise'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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in West Bench, Boise

West Bench, Boise's age mix sits close to the national median.

Median age
41
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
20%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.6
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1816%
18 to 3425%
35 to 4921%
50 to 6419%
65 and older20%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Bench, Boise.

Who works in West Bench, Boise, and how

Work in West Bench, Boise centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
15%
about the national average
Unemployment
2.2%
below the national average
Job growth
+4.9%
/y 2019-2023, faster than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social14%
Construction11%
Retail trade10%
Professional & technical9%
Manufacturing8%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 78%
  • Work from home 15%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 7%

Life in West Bench, Boise

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Bench, Boise.

Places to eat and drink
40
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 36.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 57% of neighborhoods
Coffee shops
8
about 7.3 per 10,000 residents, more than 74% of neighborhoods

What the weather is like in West Bench, Boise, month by month

West Bench, Boise sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January42°32°24°
April66°52°38°
July97°80°62°
October68°53°41°

Flying in and out of West Bench, Boise

Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 6 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 59 nonstop destinations.

Nearest airport
BOI
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 6 miles
Airport size
Medium hub
61st-busiest in the US, 59 nonstop destinations
Average drive
8 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around West Bench, Boise

Schools across West Bench, Boise average a B−, better than 65% of neighborhoods.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Bench, Boise school and its grade on SchoolGrade.

West Bench, Boise 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 West Bench, Boise against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.

Common questions about living in West Bench, Boise

Is West Bench, Boise a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Bench, Boise ranks 851st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and low disaster risk, 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 West Bench, Boise expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $420,458. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $90,224 median income, cost of living beats 70% of neighborhoods.

Is West Bench, Boise safe?

Yes, West Bench, Boise is safer than 94% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $233 per resident a year.

Compare West Bench, Boise with other neighborhoods

Neighborhoods near West Bench, Boise

Neighborhoods with similar populations

Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Bench, Boise. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Bench, Boise 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.

West Bench, Boise detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for West Bench, Boise: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in West Bench, Boise: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of West Bench, Boise: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in West Bench, Boise: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

West Bench, Boise detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.

By the BestNeighborhood data science team. 2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026