Nez Perce County, ID

County Profile

42,697 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Nez Perce 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.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 40% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 34% of 1,463 counties measured63
Schools723rd of 1,377 counties measured48
Growth822nd of 1,453 counties measured46
Housing affordability1,005th of 1,462 counties measured69
Climate799th of 1,463 counties measured67
Physical resilience955th of 1,463 counties measured48
Access1,406th of 1,463 counties measured36
Economic stabilityTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured69
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.2% and median household income $72,599, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 40% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.3 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 160 units authorized over the past twelve months, 42% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
42,697
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$72,599
Top 31% nationally
Density
50/sq mi
848.3 sq mi of land
Median age
41.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Nez Perce County
Idaho
Metro area
Nearest major airport
GEG
96 mi · Spokane Intl
Median home value
$334,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2%, lower than in 84% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 19,868 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$59,21051st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$52,21130th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,0362024 ACS 5-Year$72,599Top 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8562024 ACS 5-Year$38,311Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$56,486Top 49%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.7%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year17.7 minTop 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.1%Top 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.1%70th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202619,868Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.3%Bottom 22%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202620,53330th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.5%Top 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.32.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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

202120222023202473k62k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $72,599 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 — Lewiston, ID-WA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers930$34,650
Home Health and Personal Care Aides870$36,400
Office Clerks, General840$43,430
Registered Nurses730$87,650
Retail Salespersons680$37,010
General and Operations Managers600$79,030

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

40% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.3 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
19
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.3
across 16 of them
Math proficiency
39.8%
Top 50% in Idaho
Reading proficiency
52.6%
Top 50% in Idaho
The 12 largest of 19 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lewiston High SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT1,28817.940%63%
Jenifer Middle SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT56115.244%58%
Sacajawea Middle SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT54715.240%57%
Centennial Elementary SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT35816.349%53%
Whitman Elementary SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT33213.842%47%
Camelot Elementary SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT31015.553%58%
McGhee Elementary SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT25914.442%52%
Orchards Elementary SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT25714.342%47%
Lapwai Middle/high SchoolLAPWAI DISTRICT24611.712%37%
McSorley Elementary SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT24214.252%52%
Lapwai Elementary SchoolLAPWAI DISTRICT23016.427%22%
Webster Elementary SchoolLEWISTON INDEPENDENT DISTRICT21413.437%47%

34.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Idaho’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 12% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 87.9, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area is up 40% over five years, and up 4.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,609 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.78% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,220, some 20% above the $1,015 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,220 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,800 a year, about 67% of the median household income here of $72,599.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,015 a month.

A median home at $334,700 costs 3.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $88,669, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
87.9

Prices here run about 12% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,220
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,015
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$334,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Nez Perce County’s median household income of $72,599, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area’s figure202387.9Top 7%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.7%71st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+40.3%30th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+114.3%82nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.8Bottom 14%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.4%30th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±362024 ACS 5-Year18,57862nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$931Top 47%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,697Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,220Bottom 45%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$632024 ACS 5-Year$1,015Bottom 29%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,1102024 ACS 5-Year$334,70085th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1072024 ACS 5-Year$2,60979th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,4282024 ACS 5-Year$88,669Top 26%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.78%48th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.8%Top 50%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1182024 ACS 5-Year35149th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.9%41st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%17th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2422024 ACS 5-Year1,30840th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

46/ 100
Ranks 822 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 2% since 2020, reaching 42,847 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025. Over the twelve months since, it has turned the other way — 42% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 160 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 4% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Nez Perce County gained about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,210, above the $52,211 of households that moved out.

At 3.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
160
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.7
Top 39% nationally
Year over year
−42%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
3.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202443k42k
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. It has been falling for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
64%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,210
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,211
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Asotin County, WA 417 people · 21% of arrivals
  2. Latah County, ID 186 people · 9.5% of arrivals
  3. Clearwater County, ID 118 people · 6.0% of arrivals
  4. Idaho County, ID 118 people · 6.0% of arrivals
  5. Lewis County, ID 77 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Asotin County, WA 422 people · 23% of departures
  2. Latah County, ID 163 people · 8.7% of departures
  3. Kootenai County, ID 106 people · 5.7% of departures
  4. Spokane County, WA 74 people · 3.9% of departures
  5. Clearwater County, ID 73 people · 3.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202527485
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+222%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 12.9 inches, including 12.7 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 29, in the Good band, and about 8 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LEWISTON NEZ PERCE CO AP, 12.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year622024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals12.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals12.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year82024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year292024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
29
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
62
90th percentile index
Days above 100
8
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

48 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 79% of it.

WildfireElevated
AvalancheModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Heat waveElevated

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, earthquake, cold wave, drought, lightning, hail, strong wind, tornado, ice storm, winter weather, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Nez Perce County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 30.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 27.9 per 100,000 residents in Nez Perce County.

Homicide
4.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
30.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
27.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
23.3
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Nez Perce County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Spokane Intl at 96 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.4%Top 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle96 miBottom 4%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%Top 35%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Spokane IntlGEG96 mi8,199 ft
Missoula MontanaMSO133 mi9,501 ft
Grant County IntlMWH135 mi13,503 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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56
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Nez Perce County, ID