The 10 Worst Small Towns In Idaho For 2025

Most Americans have never been to small town Idaho. However, as the Idahoan who live there know, small town Idaho is an awesome place to call home.

But is it all roses? Definitely not. Just like any other state, Idaho has its trouble spots. This article aims to determine, using Saturday Night Science, the absolute worst small towns to live in the Gem State. Don’t freak out, we will use data to show which places have high crime, poverty, and unemployment.

After analyzing more than 64 of Idaho’s smallest cities, we came up with this list as the 10 worst small towns in Idaho where you’d never want to live:

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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

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These are the worst small towns in Idaho for 2025:

1. Fort Hall
2. Gooding
3. Kellogg
4. Homedale
5. Plummer
6. Kamiah
7. St. Anthony
8. Glenns Ferry
9. Cottonwood
10. Carey

So what is the worst small town to call home in Idaho for 2025? According to the most recent census data, Fort Hall is the worst small town to live in Idaho.

While many of these small towns have seen better days, they have wonderful communities and people. This report in no way means to knock the folks that call towns like Fort Hall home. Everyone

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers, or scroll to the bottom to see how your town ranked.

And if you already know about the small towns, check out the best places to live in Idaho or the worst places to live in Idaho.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the worst states in America.

The 10 Worst Small Towns In Idaho For 2025

1. Fort Hall

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,343
Median Home Value: $196,000
Median Income: $40,757
Unemployment Rate: 10.1%

2. Gooding

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 3,731
Median Home Value: $175,800
Median Income: $36,889
Unemployment Rate: 14.0%

3. Kellogg

Source: Wikipedia User Wikipedia Loves Art participant “Assignment_Houston_One” | CC BY-SA 2.5

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 2,232
Median Home Value: $217,200
Median Income: $44,352
Unemployment Rate: 12.3%

4. Homedale

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,006
Median Home Value: $200,000
Median Income: $49,764
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%

5. Plummer

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,055
Median Home Value: $163,800
Median Income: $52,188
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

6. Kamiah

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,053
Median Home Value: $202,800
Median Income: $35,433
Unemployment Rate: 5.6%

7. St. Anthony

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,818
Median Home Value: $199,600
Median Income: $52,446
Unemployment Rate: 7.9%

8. Glenns Ferry

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,443
Median Home Value: $189,400
Median Income: $51,625
Unemployment Rate: 0.3%

9. Cottonwood

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,138
Median Home Value: $206,800
Median Income: $56,250
Unemployment Rate: 8.6%

10. Carey

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,197
Median Home Value: $209,200
Median Income: $50,938
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%

Next 10 Towns

Methodology: How do you decide if a small place in Idaho is lousy or not?

To rank the worst small towns to live in Idaho, we had to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a place. Assuming that people like low crime, solid education, things to do, and a stable economy isn’t a stretch.

We then analyzed the criteria using Saturday Night Science, the thinking you’d use at a bar. It seems like even your crazy Uncle would agree that a town with high crime is worse than a town with low crime; all else the same.

Using FBI crime data and the Census’s 2019-2023 American Community Survey, this is the criteria we used:

• Population Density (The lower, the worse)
• Highest Unemployment Rates
• Low housing costs (meaning there’s no demand)
• Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
• Education (Number of high school dropouts)
• High Crime

We looked at cities with populations between 1,000 and 5,000 people, of which there were many – 64 to be exact.

We get the crime numbers from the FBI, which gets them from the cities. Dropout numbers are based on the adult population, not just the current graduation rates of teenagers.

We base all our research on facts, which is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2025, which is our tenth time ranking the worst small places to live in Idaho.

There You Have It – The Worst Small Towns In Idaho

If you’re analyzing teeny places in the Gem State with the worst economic situations, where there’s high crime and there’s not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.

The worst small towns in Idaho are Fort Hall, Gooding, Kellogg, Homedale, Plummer, Kamiah, St. Anthony, Glenns Ferry, Cottonwood, and Carey.

If you’re curious enough, here are the best small towns to live in Idaho, according to science:

1. Dalton Gardens (Pop. 2,526)
2. Ketchum (Pop. 3,551)
3. Iona (Pop. 2,882)

For more Idaho reading, check out:

Worst Small Towns In Idaho

Rank	Town	Population	Unemployment Rate	Home Value	Median Income
1	Fort Hall	2,343	10.1%	$196,000	$40,757
2	Gooding	3,731	14.0%	$175,800	$36,889
3	Kellogg	2,232	12.3%	$217,200	$44,352
4	Homedale	3,006	5.7%	$200,000	$49,764
5	Plummer	1,055	4.2%	$163,800	$52,188
6	Kamiah	1,053	5.6%	$202,800	$35,433
7	St. Anthony	3,818	7.9%	$199,600	$52,446
8	Glenns Ferry	1,443	0.3%	$189,400	$51,625
9	Cottonwood	1,138	8.6%	$206,800	$56,250
10	Carey	1,197	7.2%	$209,200	$50,938
11	Lapwai	1,041	6.4%	$114,000	$60,197
12	Aberdeen	2,418	7.7%	$144,700	$67,813
13	Ponderay	1,456	5.8%	$391,700	$50,119
14	Wendell	2,940	2.7%	$209,600	$54,850
15	Shoshone	1,985	8.6%	$187,800	$56,050
16	Montpelier	2,681	4.3%	$185,600	$52,212
17	Parma	1,836	3.4%	$232,400	$47,798
18	Salmon	3,196	6.2%	$198,400	$40,875
19	American Falls	4,636	7.2%	$172,800	$58,376
20	Soda Springs	3,150	2.4%	$204,800	$47,480
21	Heyburn	3,678	4.1%	$205,300	$70,078
22	Hansen	1,414	1.0%	$178,600	$47,396
23	Buhl	4,624	4.3%	$192,600	$46,217
24	Wilder	1,690	0.9%	$215,600	$55,938
25	Mccall	3,847	4.7%	$564,500	$60,197
26	Marsing	1,245	1.9%	$245,000	$57,973
27	Wallace	1,127	5.6%	$219,200	$50,526
28	Moyie Springs	1,420	4.9%	$326,200	$61,783
29	Osburn	1,728	3.7%	$182,800	$44,583
30	St. Maries	3,032	5.9%	$205,400	$52,468
31	Bonners Ferry	2,615	0.8%	$272,000	$54,107
32	Hagerman	1,198	2.9%	$189,600	$59,250
33	Greenleaf	1,152	4.7%	$339,600	$64,375
34	Ashton	1,329	7.8%	$222,300	$66,250
35	Paul	1,615	2.0%	$251,200	$62,830
36	Driggs	2,655	0.8%	$457,800	$82,434
37	Kootenai	1,076	4.4%	$306,200	$69,457
38	Orofino	3,254	4.1%	$218,900	$57,171
39	Victor	3,024	0.0%	$591,500	$73,664
40	New Plymouth	1,863	8.4%	$199,200	$59,875
41	Grace	1,345	3.4%	$180,300	$69,286
42	Priest River	2,058	0.9%	$271,500	$57,712
43	Bellevue	2,571	5.9%	$482,600	$72,242
44	Grangeville	3,443	0.5%	$262,000	$59,013
45	Lincoln	3,759	5.0%	$307,800	$80,818
46	Filer	2,837	1.6%	$224,400	$53,508
47	Pinehurst	2,014	1.4%	$267,100	$66,447
48	Shelley	4,987	7.7%	$267,200	$63,864
49	Moreland	1,386	0.0%	$260,100	$60,048
50	Tyhee	1,475	6.3%	$417,800	$89,500
51	Spirit Lake	1,768	4.2%	$380,800	$60,938
52	Mountain Home Afb	3,198	6.6%	$1,000	$72,411
53	Kimberly	4,883	0.6%	$289,500	$76,587
54	Riverside	1,126	0.0%	$241,500	$103,125
55	Sugar City	2,011	4.2%	$308,000	$71,944
56	Malad City	2,441	1.8%	$210,300	$75,500
57	Groveland	1,204	2.7%	$362,800	$71,268
58	Sun Valley	1,383	0.0%	$845,600	$82,045
59	Genesee	1,312	3.4%	$298,800	$78,125
60	Ucon	1,537	2.0%	$311,700	$83,864
61	Robie Creek	1,240	0.9%	$524,400	$117,946
62	Dalton Gardens	2,526	1.4%	$673,800	$84,375
63	Ketchum	3,551	0.0%	$756,200	$87,658
64	Iona	2,882	0.9%	$364,400	$83,750