Jerome County, ID

County Profile

25,173 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Jerome County, ID.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 49% of 1,225 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 47% of 1,255 counties57
Schools970th of 973 counties3
GrowthTop 5% of 1,226 counties78
Housing affordability689th of 1,255 counties91
Climate818th of 1,254 counties63
Physical resilienceTop 40% of 1,255 counties68
AccessTop 31% of 1,255 counties89
Economic stabilityTop 31% of 1,255 counties74
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.2% and median household income $71,724, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 154 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 32% on the prior year.

A major airport is 18 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
25,173
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$71,724
Top 33% nationally
Density
42/sq mi
597.5 sq mi of land
Median age
34.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Jerome County
Idaho
Metro area
Twin Falls, ID
Nearest major airport
TWF
18 mi · Joslin Fld/Magic Valley Rgnl
Median home value
$271,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2% is lower than 90% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 1.3% over the past year, to 12,918 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,145$71,724Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,921$29,353Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.6%Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.5 minBottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher14.0%Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment12,918Bottom 9%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.7%Top 44%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.3%Bottom 34%June 2026
Labor force13,343Bottom 8%June 2026
Labor force participation64.9%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 46%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.2%Bottom 10%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.12.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202472k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $71,724 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 — Twin Falls, ID
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,760$28,810
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers1,550$57,330
Retail Salespersons1,410$31,900
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,280$29,960
General and Operations Managers1,190$75,140
Cashiers1,150$29,310

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.

30% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 38% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.5 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
30.3%
Bottom 1% in Idaho
Reading proficiency
38.0%
Bottom 1% in Idaho
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
JEROME HIGH SCHOOLJEROME JOINT DISTRICT1,14019.3
JEROME MIDDLE SCHOOLJEROME JOINT DISTRICT93718.025%40%
VALLEY SCHOOLVALLEY DISTRICT49312.644%51%
HORIZON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLJEROME JOINT DISTRICT48618.032%37%
SUMMIT ELEMENTARYJEROME JOINT DISTRICT46019.225%34%
JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLJEROME JOINT DISTRICT42121.122%27%
HERITAGE ACADEMY · charterHERITAGE ACADEMY INC.17616.050%30%
FALLS CITY ACADEMYJEROME JOINT DISTRICT7512.5
CORNERSTONE HIGH SCHOOLVALLEY DISTRICT66.0
JEROME ACADEMYJEROME JOINT DISTRICT4

60.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Idaho’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $966 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.8 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
16.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$966
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$271,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.79Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate75.2%Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±288,810Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$81$966Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,969$271,800Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.2%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.0%Bottom 10%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
78/ 100
Top 5% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2022 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 7% since 2020, reaching 26,056 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 6.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
154
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.1
Top 22% nationally
Year over year
+32%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202426k24k
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
202220232024202514374
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+66%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 9.9 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station JEROME CO AP, 10.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation9.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°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

68 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Overall hazard risk is lower than 79% of measured US locations.

WildfireElevated
Heat waveHigh
EarthquakeElevated
AvalancheModerate
Cold waveElevated

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Jerome County records 3.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 18.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 9.9 per 100,000 residents in Jerome County.

Homicide
3.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
9.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Jerome County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Jerome County rather than Jerome County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 18 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Joslin Fld/Magic Valley RgnlTWF18 mi8,704 ft
Pocatello RgnlPIH86 mi9,059 ft
Boise Air Trml/Gowen FldBOI116 mi10,000 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.

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Area Score
62
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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
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

Cities in Jerome County, ID