Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Buhl's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades C, ranked 43rd of 58 in Idaho. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 78% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is schools: its public schools trail 79% of Idaho towns on state tests and graduation. Buhl has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Ramona Theater and Buhl City Hall. Among 43 Idaho towns, just 3 have a lower property crime rate than Buhl. 14% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Buhl, below both the Idaho town median (25%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%).
Where Buhl beats most towns.
Ramona Theater4,122 counted in 2010 and 4,558 in 2020; an estimated 4,801 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.2% since 2020, after 10.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Buhl is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 639 in 1910, 4,558 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1958 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Buhl, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Buhl.
Buhl carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Idaho (mostly inland flooding), is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has seen reported crime fall by about half.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 95% of Idaho towns; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
Buhl’s FEMA risk score is 3 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Buhl Joint District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Buhl High School, with 347 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popplewell Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 542 | C |
| Buhl High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 347 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 44 to 17 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Buhl is 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Jobs based here fell from 1,356 in 2013 to 1,023.
Most working residents leave Buhl for work: only 15% work in town. Jobs based in Buhl fell to 1,023 in 2023, 333 fewer than in 2013. 7.6% of Buhl residents live below the poverty line.
| Buhl | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $56,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 23% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.6% | 12% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Buhl home is worth about $377,000, up 4.5% in a year, 21% below the Idaho typical home.
| Buhl | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 76% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,148 a month | $1,109 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Buhl has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 91°, January nights drop to 22° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 7,599 U.S. towns with household incomes like Buhl’s, it is healthier than 65%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Buhl beats the Idaho average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 16% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Buhl. Among 59 Idaho towns, just 4 have a lower share of adults who binge drink than Buhl.
| Buhl | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 11% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 23% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Buhl | ID |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 16.3% | 10.7% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 18.3% | 12.8% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 31.6% | 22.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eastman Park | — | 6 |
| 2. John B. Crawford Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Buhl. Close and well known come first.
18 mi WaterfallShoshone Falls
18 mi Canyon & gorgeSnake River Canyon
26 mi National Historic SiteMinidoka National Historic Site44K visitors a year
14 mi National MonumentHagerman Fossil Beds National Monument37K visitors a year37 mi Ski areaMagic Mountain Resort35 runs · 619 ft verticalShoshone Falls: Jloft, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Snake River Canyon: chadh, CC BY 2.0 · Minidoka National Historic Site: Tamanoeconomico, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument: NPS photo, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of Buhl
About 3 of every 100 Buhl residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Idaho.
Where Buhl’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Buhl on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Buhl.
City in Twin Falls, Idaho, United States
Buhl is a city located on the old Oregon Trail in the western half of Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. As of the 2020 census, Buhl had a population of 4,558. It is part of the Twin Falls, Idaho metropolitan area. U.S. Route 30 passes through Buhl, along the scenic Thousand Springs Scenic Byway from Twin Falls to Bliss. Known as the "Trout Capital of the World," Buhl is the location of numerous hatcheries in the immediate surrounding area, which produce a majority of the rainbow trout consumed in the United States. Clear Springs Foods, located just north of Buhl, processes over 20 million pounds of rainbow trout each year, making it the world's largest producer.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Buhl grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #43 of 58 in Idaho. It grades C+ for health, A− for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 5.5 years of the area's median household income ($68,810 across the Twin Falls, ID metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
3 notable people were born here, including Marjorie Reynolds and April McClain-Delaney.
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