Boise City, ID
Boise City, ID Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Boise City, ID Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Boise City ranks 52nd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 65th for income. A household earns $88,695 a year while median rent runs $1,628/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is affordability (52nd of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (266th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 242nd and home prices 259th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Boise City, your take-home is worth about $59,125 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 65th of 300↑33.4%$88,695
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 203rd of 30098 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $90,145
- Per-capita income
- $43,925
- Full-time pay
- $44,471
Housing
- Median rent
- 242nd of 300↑55.2%$1,628/mo
- Home value
- 259th of 300↑64.8%$484,000
- Property tax
- $2,162/yr · 0.4%
- Sales tax
- 6.03%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 109th of 3004%
- Bachelor's+
- 99th of 30038%
- Avg commute
- 136th of 30023.8 min
People
- Population
- 844,979
- Population change
- +12.8%
- Median age
- 38.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7.9%
- Broadband
- 94.1%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 266th of 30054
- Natural-hazard loss
- 109th of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 64th of 30016.1%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 10.4%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Air quality
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — murphy 10 w.
What jobs pay in Boise City
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $347,160
- IT managers
- $161,990
- Pharmacists
- $150,710
- Software developers
- $131,590
- Financial managers
- $131,130
- Lawyers
- $109,780
- Civil engineers
- $99,510
- Registered nurses
- $97,880
- Police officers
- $84,940
- General & operations managers
- $83,680
- Web developers
- $79,290
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,700
- Electricians
- $61,610
- Elementary school teachers
- $61,230
- Secondary school teachers
- $61,140
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,330
- Plumbers
- $56,940
- Carpenters
- $50,850
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,190
- Construction laborers
- $47,510
- Customer service reps
- $46,640
- Janitors
- $36,140
- Waiters & waitresses
- $35,830
- Retail salespersons
- $35,670
- Cashiers
- $32,000
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Boise City metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Idaho are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California13,475
- Washington4,626
- Oregon3,252
- Texas1,774
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Boise City
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Boise City metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Boise City metro?
- Median gross rent across the Boise City, ID Metro Area is $1,628 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Boise City.
- What is the median household income in the Boise City metro?
- A typical household in the Boise City, ID Metro Area earns $88,695 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Boise City expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Boise City, ID Metro Area runs about 2% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Boise City metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $90,145 (versus its face value of $88,695). CityLedger rates the Boise City, ID Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Boise City metro?
- The median home value across the Boise City, ID Metro Area is $484,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Boise City metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Boise City, ID Metro Area is 4% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).