Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Caldwell is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 47th of 58 graded towns in Idaho, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $73K. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its public schools trail 68% of Idaho towns on state tests and graduation. A typical home there costs about $400K, 4.6 years of the Boise City metro’s $86K median household income. Only 4 of Idaho’s 46 towns score lower on safety. Caldwell has 16 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Sterry Hall and Boise River and Canal Bridge. Among 43 Idaho towns, just 1 have a higher violent crime rate than Caldwell.
Where Caldwell beats most towns.
Blatchley Hall
Census counts: 779 in 1890, 59,996 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 2 maps from 1958 on.
16 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Caldwell is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Caldwell, 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 Caldwell.
Caldwell carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Idaho (mostly inland flooding) and has home values still below their peak, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Idaho rate.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 91% of Idaho towns, with expected losses of about $68 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Caldwell’s FEMA risk score is 5 of 100, against 50 of 100 in Idaho’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Caldwell since 2026.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Three of its 27 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakevue Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 915 | B− |
| Caldwell Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,400 | D |
| Thomas Jefferson CharterTop results in townGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 364 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
23 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. Caldwell’s trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile, where Idaho’s towns sit at 0.8 and U.S. towns at 0.4. The biggest park or preserve is Brothers Athletic Park, at 38 acres.
| Caldwell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.1% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Griffiths Park | 0.6 mi | 32 |
| 2. Luby Park | 0.3 mi | 15 |
| 3. Brothers Athletic Park | — | 38 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here grew from 13,222 in 2013 to 19,459.
Most working residents leave Caldwell for work: only 18% work in town. Since 2013, Caldwell has added 6,237 jobs, to 19,459 in 2023. The average trip to work in Caldwell is 25 minutes.
| Caldwell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 23% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 12% | 9.9% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime runs at 4.8 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Idaho rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C. At 25.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 90% of Idaho’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Caldwell has chilly winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Caldwell’s July high is 93°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical value, about $400K, is 10% below its June 2022 peak.
The typical Caldwell home is worth about $400,000, up 1.5% in a year, 16% below the Idaho typical home.
| Caldwell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,264 a month | $1,109 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 50% | 47% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Caldwell beats the Idaho average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 18% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Caldwell.
| Caldwell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 11% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 73% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Caldwell | ID |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.5% | 8.3% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 23.6% | 26.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 17.5% | 10.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Caldwell. Close and well known come first.
23 mi Stadium & arenaAlbertsons Stadium
25 mi MuseumOld Idaho State Penitentiary
22 mi LandmarkFort Boise
23 mi Stadium & arenaExtraMile Arena
23 mi Stadium & arenaIdaho Central Arena30 mi Ski areaBogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area117 runs · 1,792 ft verticalAlbertsons Stadium: Iamneven, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Old Idaho State Penitentiary: Peter Wollheim, CC BY 2.5 · Fort Boise: Sketch by William H. Tappan, Public domain · ExtraMile Arena: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · Idaho Central Arena: mark6mauno, CC BY-SA 2.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Caldwell
About 6 of every 100 Caldwell residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Idaho.
46,237 counted in 2010 and 59,996 in 2020; an estimated 76,629 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 27.4% since 2020, after 29.8% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
16 places in Caldwell on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Caldwell.
City in Idaho, United States
Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho, United States. Caldwell is the 5th most populous city in Idaho. As of the 2020 census, Caldwell had a population of 59,996. Caldwell is considered part of the Boise metropolitan area, and is the location of the College of Idaho. The city is located approximately 24 miles (39 km) west of Boise, and approximately 17 miles (27 km) east of the Oregon border.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Caldwell.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Caldwell grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #47 of 58 in Idaho. It grades C+ for health, C for safety and C for schools.
Idaho has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Caldwell sits nearer the middle.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
19 notable people were born here, including Butch Otter and Gary Stevens.
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