Photo: Denisemurray1 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Rathdrum commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
The two grades for Rathdrum are B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Employers in Rathdrum report 2,455 jobs, against 4,581 working residents. About one in ten work in Rathdrum itself; outside it, Coeur d'Alene draws the most (25%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Rathdrum and work: the main findings
Rathdrum has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Rathdrum went from 1,391 in 2013 to 2,455 in 2023, +76%. The jobs ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Rathdrum’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 25 minutes, longer than the Idaho average of 22. Time on the road ↓
Most Rathdrum residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Rathdrum
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rathdrum is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #15 of 59 in Idaho. Unemployment holds Rathdrum’s grade up (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.4%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rathdrum could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
The kinds of work in Rathdrum
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rathdrum, 2013 → 2023: 1,391 → 2,455. 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 Rathdrum’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Rathdrum
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rathdrum workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,136 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where in the region Rathdrum works
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.
In and out of Rathdrum on a workday
On a workday 4,183 residents head out to work, 398 work right here, and 2,057 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Rathdrum on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Rathdrum’s working residents head each day
Where Rathdrum clocks in
14% 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.
Few in Rathdrum walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rathdrum is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #32 of 59 in Idaho. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.5% across Idaho, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,615 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.3% of Rathdrum households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rathdrum’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Rathdrum is 1,273rd of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,141 | Hayden ID | 17,363 | $83K | 7.8% | 3.1% | 15% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,150 | Middleton ID | 12,600 | $89K | 7.9% | 4.1% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,271 | Southampton Township NJ | 10,563 | $98K | 6.8% | 9.1% | 6% | B |
| 1,272 | Lower Pottsgrove Township PA | 12,892 | $94K | 11.8% | 5.0% | 4% | B |
| 1,273 | Rathdrum ID | 13,227 | $87K | 12.4% | 1.6% | 9% | B |
| 1,274 | Yulee FL | 16,648 | $85K | 10.4% | 2.7% | 7% | B |
| 1,275 | Chubbuck ID | 16,823 | $83K | 6.0% | 4.3% | 14% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,302 | Hailey ID | 10,053 | $91K | 7.4% | 2.3% | 30% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Rathdrum, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
Bordering towns draw 14% of Rathdrum’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rathdrum workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathdrum | – | B | B+ | 25 min | $86,563 |
| Post Falls | 14% | B | B+ | 24 min | $82,183 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Post Falls. Darker towns draw more of Rathdrum’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Rathdrum: questions
What is the median household income in Rathdrum?
$86,563 (±$13,161) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rathdrum?
12.4%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rathdrum?
25 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rathdrum work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Coeur d'Alene (25%, 8 mi), Post Falls (14%, 5 mi), Hayden (9%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rathdrum walkable?
Rathdrum is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rathdrum without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rathdrum, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rathdrum
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.