Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rupert gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $323K for a typical one, or 4.6 years of the Burley area’s $71K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 56th of 58 in Idaho. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $55K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 80% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Only 1 of the 59 Idaho towns we compare have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Rupert. Rupert has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Rupert Town Square Historic District and Empire School. Only 3 of the 56 Idaho towns we compare have a lower typical home value than Rupert.
Where Rupert beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Rupert is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 297 in 1910, 6,082 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1942 and a map from 1964 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rupert, 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 Rupert.
Rupert carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Idaho (mostly inland flooding), is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Idaho’s.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 81% of Idaho towns; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Rupert’s FEMA risk score is 11 of 100, below both the Idaho town median (50 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100).
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Minidoka County Joint District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rupert Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 620 | D |
| Mini-Cassia Juvenile Detention CenterLargest public high schoolGrades 3–12 | Grades 3–12 | 4 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
Against the 7,334 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rupert’s, it is less healthy than 61%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
33% of Rupert adults get no exercise outside work, against 23% in Idaho’s towns and 25% across U.S. towns. 14% of Rupert adults binge drink. Rupert beats the Idaho average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16.
| Rupert | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 11% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 23% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Rupert | ID |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7% | 8.3% |
| More uninsured adults | 22% | 10.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 26% in five years, to about $323K, against 6% across Idaho. The median property tax bill is $992, against $2,038 across Idaho, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Rupert’s median rent is $856 a month. The typical Rupert home is worth about $323,000, up 1.3% in a year, 32% below the Idaho typical home. 64% of households own their home in Rupert.
| Rupert | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $856 a month | $1,125 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 64% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1.6 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Rupert | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.7% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Big Valley | — | 10 |
| 2. Neptune Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Rupert Square | 0.2 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rupert has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. The July high in Rupert is 89°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 25.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 87% of Idaho’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 76 to 50 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Rupert has about as many jobs (2,577) as working residents, but only 469 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 1,950 in 2013 to 2,577.
Most working residents leave Rupert for work: only 17% work in town. Jobs based in Rupert grew to 2,577 in 2023, 627 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Burley (18%), Twin Falls (7%) and Heyburn (4%).
| Rupert | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 23% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Rupert; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Rupert residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Idaho.
2 places in Rupert on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Rupert.
City in Idaho, United States
Rupert is the county seat and largest city of Minidoka County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Burley Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,082 at the 2020 census, up from 5,554 in 2010.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rupert grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #56 of 58 in Idaho. It grades C− for health, C+ for safety and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Idaho has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Rupert sits nearer the middle.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
4 notable people were born here, including Boyd Coddington and Ronald A. Nussbaum.
