Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 13,227, settled in 1881.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rathdrum grades B+ overall, ranked 14th of 58 in Idaho. Natural-hazard risk is low. Its schools outperform 75% of the state's. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $582K, 7.1 years of the Coeur d'Alene metro’s $82K median household income. Rathdrum has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them St. Stanislaus Kostka Mission and Rathdrum State Bank. Among 59 Idaho towns, just 4 have a lower July high than Rathdrum.
Where Rathdrum beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| John Brown Elementary School | PK–5 | 377 |
| Betty Kiefer Elementary School | PK–5 | 367 |
| Lakeland Middle School | 6–8 | 635 |
6,826 counted in 2010 and 9,211 in 2020; an estimated 13,227 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 43.6% since 2020, after 34.9% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Rathdrum is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 218 in 1890, a low of 218 in 1890, 9,211 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 1972 and 2 maps from 1961 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rathdrum, 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 Rathdrum.
Rathdrum carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Idaho (mostly inland flooding) and has added half again as many jobs in ten years, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Idaho.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 69% of Idaho towns, with expected losses of about $76 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
At 17 of 100, Rathdrum’s FEMA risk score is where Idaho’s towns sit at 50 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Lakeland District. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lakeland Senior High School, with 830 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 635 | C+ |
| Lakeland Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 830 | A− |
| North Idaho STEM Charter AcademyTop results in townGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 553 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 1,391 in 2013 to 2,455.
Most working residents leave Rathdrum for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in Rathdrum grew to 2,455 in 2023, 1,064 more than in 2013. At $87,000, Rathdrum’s median household income is above the Idaho town median ($67,000) and near the median of U.S. towns ($80,000).
| Rathdrum | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 8.7% | 23% | 8% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8.5% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Rathdrum beats the Idaho average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 28% of Rathdrum adults have high blood pressure.
| Rathdrum | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 73% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Rathdrum | ID |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with high blood pressure | 27.8% | 31.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 7.1 years of the Coeur d'Alene metro’s $82K median household income, the typical home (about $582K) costs more against local pay than in 81% of Idaho towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
Rathdrum’s median rent is $1,459 a month. The typical Rathdrum home is worth about $582,000, up 3% in a year, 22% above the Idaho typical home.
| Rathdrum | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,459 a month | $1,109 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 69% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Rathdrum has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 25° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
3.3 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. Among 56 Idaho towns, just 5 have a lower share of conserved land than Rathdrum.
| Rathdrum | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.6% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Avista Dog Park | 0.9 mi | 19 |
| 2. Majestic Park | 0.4 mi | 10 |
| 3. Stub Meyer Park | 0.1 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Idaho average. Rathdrum has grown 44% since 2020, to 13,227 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 25% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Idaho.
| Rathdrum | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37.1 years | 35.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 25% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 25% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.8 points. Across Idaho, 49.7% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 72% are men (ID 50%).
| Rathdrum | ID | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 11.6% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.8% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.2% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.3% | 13.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.3% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.7% | 11.7% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.1% | 10.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.9% | 6.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.2% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.7% | 26.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 27.3% | 24.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.1% | 9.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.4% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.4% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rathdrum. Close and well known come first.
12 mi Theme parkSilverwood Theme Park
37 mi LakeLake Pend Oreille
20 mi LakeCoeur D'Alene Lake
26 mi Stadium & arenaNumerica Veterans Arena
26 mi Theme parkRiverfront Park14 mi Ski areaMt. Spokane61 runs · 1,974 ft verticalSilverwood Theme Park: nicanicasather, CC BY 2.0 · Lake Pend Oreille: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified or unknown, Public domain · Coeur D'Alene Lake: The original uploader was Jamidwyer at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Numerica Veterans Arena: Jdubman at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Riverfront Park: en:User:Sundodger, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of Rathdrum
About 4 of every 100 Rathdrum residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Idaho.
Where Rathdrum’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Idaho, United States
Rathdrum is a city in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. The population was 9,211 at the 2020 census, up from 6,826 in 2010. It is part of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entire county. It is named after Rathdrum, a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.54 square miles (16.94 km2), all land. Rathdrum is situated at the base of Rathdrum Mountain, which is part of the Selkirk Mountain Range.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Rathdrum.
| Town | ID rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathdrum | #14 | B+ | C− | B+ | A− | B+ |
| Post Falls | #24 | B | C− | B | B+ | B |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rathdrum grades B+ overall, better than 73% of U.S. towns and #14 of 58 in Idaho. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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