10 Best & Safest Places To Live In Idaho

There are plenty of reasons why Idaho is a great place to live. Living in the Gem State provides you with an opportunity to get access to different outdoor activities, friendly communities, and a low cost of living.

Idaho is a great place to live, but to choose the specific place depends on your preference. If you’re looking for a better employment opportunity, Boise is a good place; if you’re looking for a place with milder winter, Lewiston is the place for you; or if being in the all the time is what you’re looking for, Coeur d’Alene is a great option.

The place that takes the top spot in our list, is Moscow, the largest city of Latah County. This small, college town is another great option for a family looking for a new home. You’ll be surprised that for its size, the town offers a lot of things to do and places to go.

Moscow is a modern town filled with historic buildings, which add to its charm. Aside from the beautiful structural and natural sceneries, the people here are also some of the nicest you’ll ever meet. There’s no doubt that this is one of the best places to raise a family.

Situated in the Boise Foothills, Eagle is a quaint suburb renowned for its spas, golf courses, and green spaces with a swimming beach, hiking trails, and even a zip line course. This is a family-friendly area that offers the amenities you can get from a large city.

Eagle offers a safe community and as a result, you’ll often see kids walking their way to school and playing outside without worry – something you can hardly see in a city. While this area is a little bit more expensive than the other places listed here, it’s still relatively cheaper compared to other cities in states like California and Massachusetts.

Located in Ada County, Meridian is an agricultural town in Southwestern Idaho, which has grown rapidly throughout the last decade. The local government has acted swiftly, sensibly, and wisely to meet the demand for new residential areas as well as convenient commercial design. This community is rapidly transforming itself from corn and dairy fields to an important economic district.

Meridian is a great place if you want to live where you can meet people are very friendly, have quick and easy access to fun activities, and the economy keeps growing! Of course, there are also places for skiing, snowboarding, and other outdoor activities within great proximity.

Coeur d’Alene is the biggest city in Kootenai County. This city is a growing lakeside town in the north part of the state. You’ll not only find countless lakes and mountainsides but also kind and friendly people everywhere.

If you like the sight of tourists, especially in the summertime, you’ll love this place. This place will never leave you bored as it offers plenty of activities and attractions for you. The downtown offers a lot of establishments for entertainment and there are also parks your kids will surely enjoy.

A city in Madison Country, Rexburg is a little college town located almost in the middle of nowhere, which adds charm to it! Walking through Main Street, Center Street, 2nd South, and College Ave will give you that old town feels, with so many charming little shops to peek in at.

There are a lot of park areas around the Brigham Young University campus. There are also so many grocery stores, boutiques, barbershops, and other businesses that make living here so convenient. If you prefer shopping at bigger stores, you can dive about 30 minutes in any direction and you’ll have in-town options.

Located in Bonneville County, Idaho Falls is a very welcoming community that offers an opportunity to homebuyers to find an amazing place to live. Idaho Falls also offers amazing housing with competitive costs. It also offers great employment opportunities with comparable wages and nice benefits.

It’s a great place to live, not only due to the many outdoor attractions and activities it offers all year round but also for the friendly and helpful people within the community. You can expect everyone to treat you like a family – whether they are your neighbor or coworker.

Twin Fall boasts a lot of amazing things. With its plenty of natural beauty and easy access to some of the most renowned forests in the state, it’s surely one of the best places to live in Idaho. So, if you’re thinking of moving to Twin Falls, you’re making the right choice!

There are a lot of reasons why home buyers decide to relocate to Twin Falls – whether that be for the natural landscapes or the career opportunities. Regardless of the reason, one thing is for sure: they all fall in love with it.

This is another place that offers that small-town vibe. You can visit the grocery and stumble upon people you know. It’s also a very safe town and traffic is something you shouldn’t worry about. Twin Falls always offer a quiet place for everyone to unwind and destress themselves.

We can go to the grocery store and see people we know. This is a very safe town as well. You’ll have peace of mind walking around anywhere feeling safe.

Post Falls is a city in Kootenai County. It’s situated between Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, Washington. With its natural beauty as well its rich history, Post Falls is, no doubt, one of the best places to live in Idaho.

Anyone living here would love to be part of a pleasant community. Everyone is so welcoming to a diverse population of people. For its size, it will give you that small-town vibe. This means getting to the places you need to go is so easy and seeing the same people will be common.

This small town will not only make you feel safe but also make you fall in love right away.

Located in Nez Perce County, Lewiston is an amazing mid-sized town to live in. You’ll never run out of things to do recreationally all year round. From boating on the Snake River to hiking the Waha mountains, this place is truly a gem.

Not only you’re not going to get bored living here, but it’s also a family-friendly place with low crime rates. It offers a close-knitted community where getting to know people is so easy. Getting greetings from people you don’t know in the neighborhood comes to everyone naturally.

Regardless of where you’re consider moving to in Idaho, everyone desires a location that is clean, family friendly, and above all, safe. Fortunately, the state of Idaho has a reputation for being a largely safe state. In fact, Idaho is one of only nine states that have a violent crime rate that is less that 250 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, at 43 incidents for every 100K people.

With the state’s relatively low crime rates, you should have no trouble trying to find a safe city for you and your family to settle down. To help you narrow down your search a bit, we assembled a ranking of the safest cities in Idaho. While you can certainly ask a long-time resident of the state about some of the safest areas, analyzing statistics will give you the most unbiased answer.

To determine the safest places in the Gem State, we took a look at reported FBI crime date. More specifically, we examined the property crime, violent crime, and total crime rates for the cities in Idaho. With these statistics in mind, here’s our list of the 10 safest cities in Idaho, many of which also happen to be included in our list of the best places to live in the state.

Fortunately, Idaho has not caught up to the crazy property taxes like California, so housing prices are much lower. However, you must keep in mind that Idaho is also a “right to work” state, which means the minimum wage remains at $7.25/hour.

Using data that takes consideration of items like housing, groceries, utilities, and healthcare costs, we were able to come up with a list of the top 10 cheapest places to live in Idaho.

This cost of living stat is derived from a US average of 100. A score lower than 100 means the town or city is cheaper than the US average. A score higher than 100 means it’s more expensive than the US average.

The state of Idaho is inland, so, expect the weather in most regions to be more extreme. But fortunately, it doesn’t get so much rain. If you like warm weather, Idaho has a lot to offer.

Southern Idaho has a lot of desert-type areas that experience intense highs and lows. It also tends to get quite a bit of wind, particularly in the Eastern part.

The winters can be harsh and snowy in that South-Eastern region. North Idaho is generally greener and more luscious with shorter summers and longer winters.

If you are looking for a place with the longest and warmest summertime, then Lewiston would be a great option. This city has some of the best weather in Idaho. It is located right on the rivers at an elevation of just 745 feet, which deflects a lot of bad weather around it.

Other places where the weather is great are Coeur d’Alene, Boise, and Moscow.