Boise, the state capital · Photo: Jyoni Shuler · CC BY-SA 4.0How Idaho stacks up
Only one state grew faster between 2010 and 2020 than Idaho: the population grew 17.3%. Idaho spends less per pupil than most states (51st) and still scores 13th on the Nation’s Report Card. That balance adds up to an A overall and 6th place among the 50 states and D.C.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
8th of 51A86/100 Safe, town after town. It leads its neighbors on safety, ahead of Utah. Measured by the FBI, violent crime here comes to 221 per 100,000 residents, 33% below the national figure. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Rexburg its best at #239 of 3,410.
Add property crime, weighted as our town grades weigh it, and it ranks 4th lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 20 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 88% of residents of Idaho’s 10,000+ towns.
Low crime nearly everywhere
At the safe end sit Meridian (#621), Rathdrum (#735) and Middleton (#777) in the national ranking of towns of 10,000+. By population, 22% of its town residents are in top-quarter towns and 1% in bottom-quarter ones.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Idaho | 22% | 1% |
Where county or state police patrol
Town figures come from each police department’s own reports to the FBI, and a town needs enough of the last three years reported to count. That covers 88% of the people in Idaho’s towns of 10,000+. One town, Hailey, has too few years reported and sits out. Six places report no crime of their own, among them Eagle, Kuna and Star; county or state police patrol them, and their crimes aren’t counted by town. Among its neighbors, Wyoming counts the most (100%) and Nevada the least (60%).
Schools
41st of 51C−20/100 Students score below most states. On the Nation’s Report Card it ranks 13th highest, with 34% of students at Proficient or better. It spends $11,119 per pupil (51st) and scores 13th, more than the spending would predict. Even its best town, Rathdrum, ranks #1,595 of 5,230 nationally.
On-time graduation, 81.1% (5th lowest), weighs equally with test results in the grade.
It spends $11,119 per pupil, lowest (context only; spending isn’t graded).
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 27 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
24th of 51B−54/100 Middle of the road on cost. Taxes and prices disagree: 18th lowest tax bills, but home prices 9th highest against income. Idaho homeowners pay a typical $2,038 a year in property tax (18th lowest). Blackfoot leads its towns at #465 nationally; 10% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
A typical home costs 5.4 years of median household income, 9th highest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 27 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
12th of 51A−78/100 Healthy, town after town. Idaho ranks 15th lowest for adults in fair or poor health, at 18%. 36% of residents live in top-quarter towns such as Hailey and Eagle, and almost none at the bottom.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 27 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
17th of 51B+68/100 Slightly more owners than average. Its larger towns trail the statewide figure, which also counts rural areas. 72% of homes are lived in by their owners, against 65% nationally (8th highest). 8% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 5% in a bottom-quarter one; Middleton ranks highest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 27 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
17th of 51B+68/100 Slightly lower risk than average. Almost no one here lives in a bottom-quarter town; Jerome and Twin Falls are typical. Compared with $155 nationally, FEMA expects $139 a year in damage per $100,000 of buildings here. Its larger towns rank higher than the statewide figure suggests.
The federal government declared ten major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (22nd fewest).
What drives it: inland flooding 67%, wildfire 24%, earthquake 8% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 27 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
10th of 51A−82/100 Consistently short commutes. Idaho workers average 21.6 minutes to work, against 26.4 nationally. Nearly every larger town does well here, Sandpoint and Moscow among them.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 27 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
1st of 51A+100/100 Growing nearly everywhere. Builders added 10.1 homes per 1,000 residents in 2025, after the population grew 17.3% from 2010 to 2020 (2nd fastest). Only North Dakota puts more residents in the nation’s fastest-growing quarter of towns. It leads its neighbors on growth, ahead of Nevada.
New homes permitted in 2025: 10.1 per 1,000 residents (2nd most).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 27 Idaho towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Idaho compares to its neighbors
Against Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, Idaho leads on safety, natural hazards and growth.
| Idaho | Washington | Oregon | Nevada | Utah | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A 906th of 51 | C+ 4230th of 51 | D 648th of 51 | D− 449th of 51 | A+ 1001st of 51 |
| Safety | A 8611th official · 22% in top towns | B− 4824th official · 5% in top towns | C 3428th official · 1% in top towns | D 1037th official · 0% in top towns | A− 8414th official · 21% in top towns |
| Schools | C− 2013th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 6818th official · 16% in top towns | D 1443rd official · 2% in top towns | D 839th official · 0% in top towns | A− 763rd official · 8% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B− 5418th official · 10% in top towns | D 1242nd official · <1% in top towns | C− 2237th official · <1% in top towns | C+ 4217th official · 2% in top towns | B 6222nd official · 25% in top towns |
| Health | A− 7815th official · 36% in top towns | A− 8010th official · 39% in top towns | C 3030th official · 9% in top towns | D 1043rd official · 0% in top towns | A 944th official · 48% in top towns |
| Housing | B+ 688th official · 8% in top towns | C− 2440th official · 9% in top towns | D 843rd official · 4% in top towns | D 648th official · 5% in top towns | A 9413th official · 29% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | B+ 6829th official · 48% in top towns | C 3444th official · 10% in top towns | C 3041st official · 6% in top towns | B− 4831st official · 10% in top towns | C− 1636th official · <1% in top towns |
| Commute | A− 829th official · 53% in top towns | C 3238th official · 19% in top towns | B 6415th official · 31% in top towns | C+ 3824th official · 12% in top towns | B+ 7210th official · 38% in top towns |
| Growth | A+ 1002nd official · 83% in top towns | A 928th official · 63% in top towns | B+ 6612th official · 28% in top towns | A 945th official · 60% in top towns | A 881st official · 48% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work