Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Buhl works elsewhere
Employers in Buhl report 1,023 jobs; 1,970 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Buhl are C for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Buhl
Buhl and Twin Falls trade workers both ways
Twin Falls is the top workplace for Buhl residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Buhl come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Buhl workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Idaho. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Buhl than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Buhl fell from 1,356 in 2013 to 1,023 in 2023, −25%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Buhl pay little
26% of the jobs based in Buhl pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Buhl: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Buhl is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #41 of 59 in Idaho. The poverty rate holds Buhl’s grade up (7.6%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($55,568, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Buhl could be anywhere from D to B+.
31% of working residents work in Twin Falls
Where Buhl clocks in
31% of workers
4% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The daily trip from Buhl: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buhl workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,943 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The kinds of work in Buhl
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buhl, 2013 → 2023: 1,356 → 1,023. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Buhl’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Buhl by day
On a workday 1,684 residents head out to work, 286 work right here, and 737 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Buhl on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How far Buhl’s workers travel
About 20% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Buhl is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Buhl is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #47 of 59 in Idaho. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.5% across Idaho.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,014 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.6% of Buhl households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Buhl’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Buhl is 2,759th of 3,753 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,068 | Ketchum ID | 3,643 | $93K | 5.2% | 0.0% | 37% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,355 | Rigby ID | 5,757 | $85K | 9.7% | 2.2% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,496 | Kimberly ID | 5,798 | $98K | 19.3% | 0.0% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,757 | Rainbow Springs FL | 6,082 | $57K | 9.3% | 3.5% | 2% | C |
| 2,758 | Canutillo TX | 5,962 | $41K | 34.0% | 3.5% | 2% | C |
| 2,759 | Buhl ID | 4,801 | $56K | 7.6% | 5.4% | 15% | C |
| 2,760 | Alpine TX | 5,989 | $60K | 8.7% | 4.1% | 49% | C |
| 2,761 | Burtchville Township MI | 4,034 | $59K | 14.5% | 3.3% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Buhl, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Buhl: questions
What is the median household income in Buhl?
$55,568 (±$14,375) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buhl?
7.6%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buhl?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buhl work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Twin Falls (31%, 15 mi), Boise City (4%, 101 mi), Jerome (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buhl walkable?
Buhl is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buhl without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buhl, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buhl
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.