Best PlacesIdaho Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Idaho area, 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.
Idaho ranks 4th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on a strong job market and cheap car insurance. The weaker spots are big-city access, an overheated housing market, and transit.
The best neighborhoods in 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.
The best areas in Idaho
The parts of Idaho, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Ada County
Canyon County
Bonneville County, Madison County & Jefferson County
Kootenai County & Bonner County
Bannock County, Bingham County & Cassia County
Twin Falls County & Elmore County
Lemhi County
Idaho County, Shoshone County & Valley County
Idaho shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Idaho's strengths and weaknesses
Idaho ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market, cheap car insurance, and state finances are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Big-city access, an overheated housing market, and transit hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Idaho ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of states
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of states
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of states
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of states
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of states
Where Idaho ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of states
- TransitBetter than only 20% of states
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 30% of states
- Tree shadeBetter than only 30% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Idaho
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Idaho home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,659, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Idaho's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten 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 Idaho
Idaho'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 Idaho.
Who works in Idaho, and how
Work in Idaho 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 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Idaho
Idaho has less parkland per resident than most states and more late-night spots per resident than 65% of states. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Idaho, month by month
Idaho sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 38° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
The best schools in and around Idaho
Schools across Idaho average a B−, better than 75% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Discovery Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Highlands Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Galileo Magnet SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heritage Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Payette Lakes Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Eagle Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Renaissance High SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Coeur D'alene Charter Academy SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Meridian Technical Charter High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Idaho school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 Idaho against the other 49 states.
Who Idaho suits
Families
Schools beat 75% of the country and crime runs low. Compare areas on the map for the best fit.
Common questions about living in Idaho
Is Idaho a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Idaho ranks 4th of 50 states. It scores highest on a strong job market, cheap car insurance, and state finances, and lowest on big-city access 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 Idaho expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $440,355. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $83,659 median income, cost of living beats 43% of states.
Is Idaho safe?
Yes, Idaho is safer than 95% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $237 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Idaho?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 24. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
What are the best areas in Idaho?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ada County, Canyon County, and Bonneville County, Madison County & Jefferson County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Idaho good for families?
Schools beat 75% of states, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is Idaho good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 43% of states, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare Idaho with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Idaho. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
Idaho detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Idaho: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Idaho: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Idaho: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Idaho: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.
- 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.