PonderayID
A town of 2,024, settled in 1905.
Is Ponderay a good place to live?
Ponderay’s best subject grades are an A for walkability and civic life; its weakest is a D for cost of living. Ponderay’s average trip to work is 10 minutes, where Idaho’s towns sit at 20 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Only 2 of Idaho’s 94 towns score lower on cost of living. The median household income is $51K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line. Only 5 of Idaho’s 94 towns score lower on history. Ponderay has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Ponderay stand out
Where Ponderay beats most towns.
Jobs vs. working residents
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
Ponderay has grown 77% since 2010
1,137 counted in 2010 and 1,289 in 2020; an estimated 2,024 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Ponderay grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Ponderay is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Ponderay: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ponderay, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Ponderay.
Ponderay has 3.7 jobs for every working resident, and 1,949 people commute in
Most working residents leave Ponderay for work: only 16% work in town. Ponderay’s median household income is $51,000, below both the Idaho town median ($67,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). Jobs based in Ponderay grew to 2,036 in 2023, 125 more than in 2013.
| Ponderay | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $51,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 22% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandpoint Christian School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 150 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
On CDC estimates, Ponderay is healthier than 69% of U.S. towns
Ponderay tracks Idaho closely on all 32 CDC measures. 29% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Ponderay.
| Ponderay | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 73% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 10% | 12% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Ponderay, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Ponderay has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Ponderay is 83°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Crime reported in Ponderay
Ponderay's reported crime rate is well below Idaho's. Ponderay’s violent crime rate is 0.4 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Ponderay | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.6 per 1,000 residents | 6.7 | 9.9 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Ponderay
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 56% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Ponderay since 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Conserved land covers 0.3% of Ponderay
2.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Only 2 of the 57 Idaho towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than Ponderay.
| Ponderay | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. McNearney Park | 0.2 mi | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median home in Ponderay sells for about $404K
32% of Ponderay households own their home.
| Ponderay | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 32% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,099 a month | $1,117 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Ponderay
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Ponderay; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Ponderay residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Idaho.
Every workday, about 1,949 people come to Ponderay for work
Where Ponderay’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Ponderay
City in Idaho, United States
Ponderay ( POND-ə-RAY) is a city in Bonner County, Idaho. As of the 2020 census, Ponderay had a population of 1,289. Ponderay's city motto is "Little City with the Big Future". Its name is an English phonetic spelling of the French words “Pend d'Oreille”, the name of a local indigenous people that live in the region. The name of the lake the city sits on, Lake Pend Oreille, is also a corruption of the Pend d'Orielles.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.4 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,126 ft
- ZIP code
- 83852
- Area code
- 208
Ponderay’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Ponderay.
Ponderay and Kootenai have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ponderay and Kootenai report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Ponderay with a neighbor →
Questions about Ponderay
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Ponderay, ID expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $437,000, 8% below the Idaho typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.