US Census reports most Idaho cities growing despite some losing residents

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The U.S. Census Bureau released population estimates for Idaho cities and towns for 2021-2022 and confirmed state population is still growing.

Boise’s net population loss came as a surprise considering the many top 10 lists curating it as the place to land. Boise is Idaho’s largest city and center of government with a variety of multi-family housing under construction or in the design/permitting phase. New subdivisions pepper the southern border of the city and annexation is underway to include 350 acres near the planned $15 billion Micron fabrication plant.

Analysts suspect high housing costs contribute to the loss in Boise population, forcing households with children to seek more affordable housing in nearby communities.

Six Idaho cities contributing the most growth are in southwestern Idaho, three are in northern Idaho and one is in south central Idaho. Of the top 20 largest cities, only three have populations of more than 100,000 — Boise, Meridian and Nampa (Table 1).

The city of Paul, located between Rupert and Burley in southeastern Idaho, was Idaho’s fastest growing city with a 20% growth rate and over 250 new residents (Table 2). Paul's total population is just over 1,700. Star followed with a 13% increase of over 1,600 new residents to almost 15,000. 

The cities that grew the fastest from July 2021 to July 2022 generally have smaller population levels, while half are in northern Idaho.

The total number of people living in Idaho cities grew by 1.9% or 25,648 new residents. That's one tenth of a percent faster than the state rate, and considerably slower than the previous year — July 2020 to July 2021 — which grew by 3.2%.

Cities with the greatest number of new residents are generally Idaho's Top 20 largest cities - except for Garden City and Sandpoint. The two cities ranked seventh and eighth respectively, with both adding about 600 residents, (Table 3).

Nearly 177 cities reported population growth, with the remaining 22 showing a decline for the 2021 -2022 time frame (Table 4).

A full list of all Idaho cities’ population estimates can be found HERE.