Best PlacesMeridian, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Meridian 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.
Meridian ranks 9th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: everyday costs run well below the national average, and crime is low. The trade is big-city access: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in Meridian
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.
Meridian's strengths and weaknesses
Meridian ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime, a strong job market, and cheap car insurance are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Big-city access, walkability, 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 Meridian ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 100% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 99% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of cities
Where Meridian ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 18% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Meridian
A household needs to earn about $139,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meridian home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $108,772, 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 Meridian's effective rate against the median home value.
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.
Who lives in Meridian
Meridian'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 Meridian.
Who works in Meridian, and how
Work in Meridian centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Meridian
Meridian has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Meridian, month by month
Meridian sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 95° | 79° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Meridian
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 10 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 59 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Meridian
Schools across Meridian average an A−, better than 86% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Discovery Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Paramount Elementary SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Barbara Morgan Stem AcademyA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heritage Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Eagle Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Victory Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Renaissance High SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Meridian Technical Charter High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Idaho Fine Arts AcademyA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meridian school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meridian 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 Meridian against the other 444 cities.
Who Meridian suits
Families
Schools beat 86% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of cities and 19% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather is mild, health care access is good, and it stays quiet.
Common questions about living in Meridian
Is Meridian a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meridian ranks 9th of 445 cities. It scores highest on low crime, a strong job market, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on big-city access and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meridian expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $545,900. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $108,772 median income, cost of living beats 88% of cities.
Is Meridian safe?
Yes, Meridian is safer than 100% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Meridian?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 26. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
Is Meridian good for families?
Schools beat 86% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is Meridian good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of cities, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare Meridian with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meridian. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meridian 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.
Meridian detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meridian: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meridian: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meridian: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meridian: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meridian 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.