AreaProfile

Boise City, Idaho

Area Profile

237,242 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Boise City, in Ada County.

70
Area Score
Top 17% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 7% of 139 published cities79
Growth97th of 134 published cities39
Housing affordability77th of 150 published cities67
Climate121st of 149 published cities61
Physical resilienceTop 16% of 150 published cities82
Access119th of 149 published cities90
Economic stabilityTop 17% of 150 published cities65
The quick read

Boise City ranks in the top 7% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.3% and median household income of $83,904.

Residential permitting has slowed: 743 units authorized over the past twelve months, 23% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Boise City in the top 16% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
237,242
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$83,904
Top 30% nationally
Density
2,786/sq mi
85.2 sq mi of land
Median age
38.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ada County
Idaho
Metro area
Boise City, ID
Nearest major airport
BOI
2 mi · Boise Air Trml/Gowen Fld
Median home value
$484,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.3% is lower than 95% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 135,990 employed residents.

47% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,392$83,904Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,406$49,861Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate10.6%Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.3 minBottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher47.5%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment135,990Bottom 44%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.7%Top 19%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.8%Top 43%June 2026
Labor force140,654Bottom 42%June 2026
Labor force participation67.4%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$64,530Bottom 35%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,100Bottom 39%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 49%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.3%Bottom 5%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/063.82.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.3% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202484k68k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $83,904 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Boise City, ID
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers11,690$29,660
General and Operations Managers11,270$83,680
Home Health and Personal Care Aides9,850$35,850
Customer Service Representatives9,460$46,640
Retail Salespersons9,130$35,670
Office Clerks, General8,810$45,860

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,446 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.8 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
20.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,446
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$484,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.78Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate63.2%Bottom 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,034106,279Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$29$1,446Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,631$484,800Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.7%Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.8%Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
39/ 100
Ranks 97 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 237,963 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

At 3.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
743
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.2
Bottom 41% nationally
Year over year
−23%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
35.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024238k236k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420252k741
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−15%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.5 inches, including 17.6 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BOISE AIR TERMINAL, 2.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall17.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

82 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are wildfire, heat wave and earthquake.

WildfireHigh
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LandslideModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, strong wind, lightning, inland flooding, ice storm, volcanic activity, hail, cold wave, tornado, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 2 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Boise Air Trml/Gowen FldBOI2 mi10,000 ft
Joslin Fld/Magic Valley RgnlTWF117 mi8,704 ft
Pocatello RgnlPIH189 mi9,059 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
70
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Boise City

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8370958,928$92,78669
8370442,719$73,39067
8370635,524$82,89368
8371331,549$91,29570
8370526,830$64,73166