Is Mountain Home AFB a good place to live?
Mountain Home AFB grades low on several counts. Where it falls short is cost of living: the typical home is worth about , years of the Mountain Home area’s $65K median household income. Overall, Mountain Home AFB earns a C−: better than 18% of U.S. towns, and 53rd of 58 in Idaho. Its best grade is for health: it is healthier than 89% of U.S. towns. The town’s concentration of trails is 2.8 miles per square mile, against 0.8 in Idaho’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. This Idaho town is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 72% of U.S. towns. Only 1 of Idaho’s 94 towns score lower on history. Mountain Home AFB’s mean commuting time is 11 minutes, where Idaho’s towns sit at 20 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap · National Register of Historic Places.
How Mountain Home AFB grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Mountain Home AFB is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Mountain Home AFB stand out
Where Mountain Home AFB beats most towns.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Mountain Home AFB.
Mountain Home AFB has less cancer than most of Idaho, has commutes shorter than most of Idaho and is mostly renters.
In Mountain Home AFB, the median age runs lower than in the typical Idaho or U.S. town
Only 0.2% of households own their home, against 72.1% across Idaho.
The share of residents in Mountain Home AFB who are under 18: 28%. Idaho has 32% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 35%. Adults 18 to 34 are nearly three in five residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 13% of residents (36% statewide).
| Mountain Home AFB | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 22.9 years | 35.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 28% | 25% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 25% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
39% women, 61% men
About 157 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±6.7 points). Across Idaho, 49.7% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 72% are men (ID 50%). Median age: women 24.5, men 22.3.
| Mountain Home AFB | ID | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 22.6% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.6% | 11.6% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 34.3% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 24.5% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.5% | 13.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 0.3% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 0.3% | 11.7% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 0% | 10.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 0% | 6.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 0.2% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 9.8% | 26.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 32.6% | 24.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 22.1% | 9.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.9% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.4% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,200, single groups can be off by several points
On state tests, Mountain Home AFB’s schools trail 72% of Idaho districts
Its public schools are run by the Mountain Home District. Mountain Home AFB’s only public school teaches 312 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephensen Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 312 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
Mountain Home AFB has set aside 7.5% of its land for conservation
Only 5 of the 56 Idaho towns we compare have a higher share of conserved land than Mountain Home AFB. Across 1 park or preserve: 27 miles of trail. One park or preserve covers 205 acres in the town.
| Mountain Home AFB | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.8 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.5% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area | 0.2 mi | 205 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Compared with most of Idaho and the rest of the country, fewer of Mountain Home AFB’s adults have diabetes
Its widest gap with Idaho is cancer: 1.4% of its 2,303 adults have had cancer, against 8.3% statewide.
In Mountain Home AFB, just over three in five adults had a checkup this year. Among 59 Idaho towns, just 3 have a lower share of adults who have obesity than Mountain Home AFB. Two figures for adults in the town: 7.9% report frequent physical distress, 22% binge drink. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Mountain Home AFB is ahead of Idaho on 13 and behind on 10.
| Mountain Home AFB | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 2.5% | 10% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 14% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Mountain Home AFB | ID |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 1.4% | 8.3% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 1.2% | 6.2% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 30% | 70.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Mountain Home AFB faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by wildfire
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 71% of U.S. communities. 56% of Mountain Home AFB’s expected losses from natural hazards come from wildfires, followed by inland flooding at 27%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The climate in Mountain Home AFB brings four seasons and hot summers
Its July high comes in at 94°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
With 0.8 jobs for every working resident, most of Mountain Home AFB’s workers commute out
The average commute for its 292 working residents takes 10.6 minutes, against 21.6 across Idaho.
Commuting out is the norm in Mountain Home AFB: 2% of working residents work locally. For residents locally, the share who live below the poverty line is 2.2%. The top destinations are Boise City (18%), Mountain Home (12%) and Meridian (9%). Half of commuters travel less than 50 miles.
| Mountain Home AFB | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 11 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.2% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 23% | 8% |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Everything we know about Mountain Home AFB
Moving to Mountain Home AFB: who provides what
Mountain Home AFB is unincorporated, so Elmore County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Mountain Home AFB; the nearest are
College town 15 of every 100 Mountain Home AFB residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Idaho.
About Mountain Home AFB
US Air Force base near Mountain Home, Idaho, United States
Mountain Home Air Force Base (IATA: MUO, ICAO: KMUO, FAA LID: MUO) is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation in the western United States. Located in southwestern Idaho in Elmore County, the base is twelve miles (20 km) southwest of Mountain Home, which is forty miles (65 km) southeast of Boise via Interstate 84. The base also hosts the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), which has a detachment of F-15SG combat aircraft on long term assignment to the base and a squadron composed of RSAF and USAF personnel. Constructed in the early 1940s during World War II as a training base for bombers, after the war it briefly had transports, then was a bomber and missile base, and became a fig…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1942
- Elevation
- 2,996 ft
- ZIP code
- 83648
Questions about Mountain Home AFB
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Mountain Home AFB, ID a good place to live?
It grades A for health and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
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