Idaho tops nation in growth for this category

A continuing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau has shown Idaho to be leading the states on financial growth.

In its 2018-2022 American Community Survey, the bureau reported Idaho is No. 1 in the nation for median household income growth, increasing by 15% over its previous survey.

The survey found Idaho’s median house income to average $70,214, an increase of $9,153 a month from the 2013-2017 survey, the bureau reported.

According to the survey, the rise in income can be attributed to Idaho’s population growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The need for entry-level service workers exceeded the supply of willing employees, boosting wages in sectors like health care and social assistance, accommodations and food service and education,” a release stated. “The pandemic also increased demand for constructions workers due to the housing boom.”

Remote workers choosing to work in states with higher wages while living in states with lower wage structures might also be a reason for Idaho’s standing among other states, said Jan Roeser, a labor economist.

Unlike Idaho, the survey revealed that states like Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota and Oklahoma saw declines in median household income, possibly due to less economic diversity.

Housing costs may also factor into Idaho’s income growth, Roeser said.

“High housing costs may be a motivator for low-wage earners to leave the state for more affordable housing,” Roeser said. “People in the higher-income brackets are becoming a larger share of Idaho’s total households with some in-migrating from other states.”

Idaho ranked fourth in the nation for housing unit growth, the survey showed, and is outpacing all of the neighboring Western states except Utah. The District of Columbia ranked first in the nation, Utah second and Texas third. Colorado came in fifth behind Idaho.

Almost 57,000 housing units were added to Idaho’s inventory over the five-year span of the two surveys, with the Boise Metropolitan Area leading the state. The Census Bureau reported the BMA accounted for 62% of the increased housing inventory.

Bonneville Country added 1,316 units (9.4%), Kootenai County added 7,745 units (11.4%) and Twin Falls added 2,549 units (7.9%).

Despite those areas increasing their housing inventory, 17 counties in the state saw decreases in housing inventory with Elmore (-2.2%), Freemont (-2.8%) and Lemhi (-4.5%) with the biggest losses.