3 Idaho Towns Named Among Most Expensive in the United States

From our gorgeous lakes and rivers to endless hiking trails to rich college football traditions, there are a lot of great things about living in Idaho. However, there are some areas where we don’t excel. Perhaps the most obvious is home prices! 

In early September, Stateline published an article revealing that Idaho has officially surpassed California as one of the most unaffordable states in the entire country. The only state more unaffordable than Idaho? Our neighbor, Montana. Their research points exactly where you’d expect it to. The article blames white-collar, remote workers who moved to Idaho with their big salaries for how quickly home prices rose. 

READ MORE: Where People from Boise, ID Are Moving To The Most

When they broke things down by major metro’s, Boise’s affordability score was so bad that it was the same as the score assigned to the New York City Metro. On the other side of the spectrum? Youngstown, Ohio. According to Stateline, it doesn’t matter what your single-family income is, you can probably afford a house there. This author has lived in exactly two places: Youngstown and Boise. 

We can attribute our grit, determination, work ethic and love of Polish and Italian food to growing up in Y-town. We look back on our childhood with fond memories, but comparing Youngstown and Boise is like comparing oranges and LEGOs. Yes, Youngstown has affordable homes but it also has high crime rates, an economy that's struggled since the steel industry collapsed decades ago and a multitude of vacant spaces. Boise is well…the polar opposite. In this case our high home prices (which we don’t like) seem to be a trade off for safety and security. 

What About America’s Small Towns?

Lending Tree just did a similar studio of “micropolitans” or cities with a population of 10,000-50,000. They ranked the 50 most expensive towns in America that met that criteria and found that in many cases, the home prices in those small towns rivaled some HUGE cities. 

Get our free mobile app

After reviewing the list, there’s good news and bad news for Idaho. The good news? We managed to NOT land in the #1 spot on the list. The bad news? Three cities in Idaho ranked in the Top 25. 

Which ones and what major metros do their home prices compare to? Take a look.