Photo: Original uploader was Kimberlyeron at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.5Earning a living in New Meadows
About one in seven work in New Meadows; the top destination outside it is McCall (25%, 10 miles). At home: 4% of workers have no commute at all (Idaho 13%). The average commute takes 25 minutes each way, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set New Meadows apart
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Few New Meadows 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 ↓
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; with 205 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from New Meadows
About 40% 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from New Meadows
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Meadows workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 223 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.
How a workday changes New Meadows
On a workday 176 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 271 people come in from elsewhere.
About 780 people are in New Meadows on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places New Meadows commutes to
Where New Meadows clocks in
25% of workers
10% 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.
Making and building: 29% of jobs based in New Meadows
300 jobs are based in New Meadows.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Meadows, 2013 → 2023: 172 → 300. 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 New Meadows’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 New Meadows: questions
What is the median household income in New Meadows?
$78,594 (±$17,384) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Meadows?
10.7%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Meadows?
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 New Meadows work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McCall (25%, 10 mi), Boise City (10%, 95 mi), Meridian (2%, 94 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around New Meadows without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Meadows, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Meadows
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.