Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,090, settled in 1908.
Wendell gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $332K for a typical one, or 5.2 years of the county’s $64K median household income. It grades C overall, 46th among Idaho's 58 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its schools rank behind 82% of the state's and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 76% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Only 8 of Idaho’s 82 towns score lower on civic life. Wendell has 1 place on the National Register. Only 2 of the 43 Idaho towns we compare have a higher rate of reported violence than Wendell.
Where Wendell beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Wendell is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 482 in 1910, 2,917 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1971 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wendell, 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 Wendell.
Wendell carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Idaho (mostly wildfires) and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Idaho rate.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 74% of Idaho towns; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
The natural-hazard score from FEMA for Wendell comes to 13 of 100, below both Idaho’s towns (50 of 100) and U.S. towns (44 of 100). Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 35% come from wildfires and 32% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The largest public high school is Wendell High School, with 325 students. Public schools: the Wendell District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 429 | D |
| Wendell High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 325 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
Against the 8,107 U.S. towns with household incomes like Wendell’s, it is less healthy than 60%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
32% of adults feel lonely in Wendell. The share of adults in Wendell who had a checkup this year is 72%, against 73% in Idaho’s towns and 79% across U.S. towns. Two figures for adults locally: 25% worry about having enough food, 33% get no exercise outside work. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Wendell is ahead of Idaho on 1 and behind on 18.
| Wendell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 11% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 18% | 19% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Wendell | ID |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.3% | 8.3% |
| More uninsured adults | 24% | 10.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 2.6% in value. Wendell’s typical rent stands at $815 a month.
| Wendell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $815 a month | $1,125 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 69% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons reach 92° and January nights drop to 22°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs in Wendell grew by 130 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 880. Most working residents leave Wendell for work: only 11% work in town. The median household income for Wendell comes to $57,000. Half commute less than 13 miles.
| Wendell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 23% | 8% |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.3% | 12% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime runs at 4.6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Idaho rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its B. Reported crimes rose from 15 to 32 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Wendell’s rate of thefts and burglaries is 5.9 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 0.1 miles of trail. Among 56 Idaho towns, just 4 have a lower concentration of trails than Wendell. One park or preserve covers 8 acres locally.
| Wendell | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. McGinnis Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wendell. Close and well known come first.
20 mi WaterfallShoshone Falls
19 mi Canyon & gorgeSnake River Canyon
23 mi National Historic SiteMinidoka National Historic Site44K visitors a year
11 mi National MonumentHagerman Fossil Beds National Monument37K visitors a yearShoshone Falls: Jloft, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Snake River Canyon: chadh, CC BY 2.0 · Minidoka National Historic Site: Tamanoeconomico, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument: NPS photo, Public domain
None within 15 miles of Wendell; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Wendell residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Idaho.
4 notable people were born in Wendell.
City in Idaho, United States
Wendell is a city in southern Gooding County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,917 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Wendell grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #46 of 58 in Idaho. It grades C− for health, B for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
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 Sherry Jackson and James F. Amos.
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