Incomes are growing faster in Idaho than anywhere else in the U.S. Here’s where, why

BOISE – Idaho’s labor force is making gains in the national rankings.

Though still near the middle of the pack in statewide rankings for median income, the state saw a faster income growth rate than all other states and Washington, D.C., coming in at 15.5% over the past five years. The state with the next-fastest income growth was Arizona at 12.3%, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

The department used new five-year estimates released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau for its analysis. Five-year estimates are the bureau’s most accurate numbers and are based on data collected over a half decade to show averages or trends.

But Idaho’s median income of $74,646 still trails all of its neighboring states except Montana. Washington’s median income was nearly $95,000, followed by Utah at nearly $92,000 and Oregon at about $80,000. Idaho was about even with Wyoming, with a difference of only $179.

The trends are telling for Idaho’s growth as the state sees a continually increasing population and large-scale investment from companies like Micron, Meta and Amazon. Incomes have been buoyed somewhat by some of the fastest-growing industries in the state: health care and construction.

Idaho’s median household income was nearly $65,000 using 2014-18 estimates and shot upward to nearly $75,000 using 2019-2023 estimates. That $10,000 increase was double the nation’s median income growth and moved the state from 39th place in median income to 30th, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

“The news that Idaho families’ earning growth is outpacing every other state is welcome news,” Gov. Brad Little said in a news release, “and not altogether surprising because Idaho is experiencing unprecedented economic prosperity.”

Though much of the population growth has centered on the Treasure Valley since the COVID-19 pandemic, none of those counties was the biggest mover.

Blaine County (where Ketchum and Sun Valley are located) had the greatest median household income growth, moving up 33.5% to about $84,000, according to the Department of Labor. Other top-ranked counties include Madison, which grew 32.8% to $58,000; Idaho, 28.1% to $60,975; Gem, 26.6% to $66,000; and Bingham, 23.1% to $77,000.

How are incomes shifting in Ada, Canyon counties?

Ada and Canyon counties, which host nearly 40% of the state’s population, are continuing to see wide increases in income since the pandemic.

Ada County’s median family income, which the Census Bureau calculates differently from household income, sat at about $86,000 in 2020 and lurched to about $107,500 in 2023 while Canyon County’s moved from about $66,000 to nearly $84,000.

Per capita, meaning the average income per person, Ada County moved from about $37,000 to almost $48,000, while Canyon County increased from nearly $24,000 to nearly $31,000.

As the state’s largest city, it would be easy to believe – incorrectly – that Boise has the highest incomes in the Treasure Valley. That award has gone to Eagle in nearly every category since at least 2010, and the suburb has continued to maintain a significant lead.

Per-capita income puts Eagle in the lead in 2023 at about $65,000, followed by Boise and Meridian at $48,000, Garden City at $45,000, Star at $41,000, Kuna at $34,000, Nampa at $31,000 and Caldwell at $25,000.

The story is somewhat different when looking at median household and family incomes, where incomes have varied wildly over the years. Household income is the total income for all people living at the same address, while family income tallies the incomes for those who are living together and are related. Family income is often higher than household income.

Eagle, Star and Kuna have seen some of the most dramatic income growth since the pandemic. Eagle’s median household income increased from about $91,000 in 2020 to just over $118,000 in 2023; Star’s grew from almost $72,000 to about $91,000; and Kuna’s grew from about $70,000 to nearly $94,000. Boise’s grew from nearly $64,000 to about $81,000.

The trends are similar for family income. Eagle is far and away the leader in median family income at about $138,000 in 2023. Meridian followed at about $113,000, Star at $103,000, Boise at $102,000, Kuna at $100,000, Garden City at $84,000, Nampa at $83,000 and Caldwell at $75,000.

What’s driving changing incomes in the Treasure Valley?

Like most things when it comes to economics, the reason behind why Idaho has seen such significant income growth is complicated, said Craig Shaul, a research analyst supervisor with the Department of Labor.

Income includes wages, dividends, interest, property ownership and payments such as Social Security, Shaul said. Wage growth is only a slice of income, but it contributes heavily to overall income.

“2020 was kind of a big year for wages increasing,” Shaul said. “A number of things were kind of happening at the same time.”

There was already some competition for workers that helped push up wages and incomes before the pandemic, such as with Amazon opening a new distribution center in 2020, Shaul said. COVID-19 accelerated some of these trends.

Wages started to increase across the board while incentives like stimulus checks flexed overall incomes up, he said. That number shot up even more with a tight labor market and swelling demand for houses from a booming population and low supply.

An increase in wealthier migration from out of state could also contribute to the rising incomes, Shaul said. This could be the case somewhat in Eagle and Star, where there is a higher rate of people in the $200,000 income range.

The income increases, though, haven’t just been concentrated within the wealthier residents and families, he said. Those in lower-income jobs have seen some of their wages increase faster, though “inflation ate into that a lot,” he said.

But incomes and inflation, he said, are moderating.

“We’re still in this structure of a tight labor force,” Shaul said. “(But) it’s a lot better than it was.”

According to Sam Wolkenhauer, an economist with the Department of Labor, Idaho escaped some of the worst damages from the pandemic that other parts of the country felt.

“If you’re just looking at total employment (and) total wages, Idaho’s economy is remarkably strong and has done very, very well weathering the storms of the last few years,” Wolkenhauer said during a Department of Labor webinar.

Wage growth has remained strong but is slowing as the labor market is normalizing, Wolkenhauer said. It appears the state is returning to the pre-pandemic markets of 2018 and 2019, which he said was a good sign.

“Idaho, in particular, really threaded the needle,” Wolkenhauer said. “We aced this test.”

The fundamentals of the Idaho economy are strong, he said, and there aren’t signs of a recession, though one could always happen from chance.

“We have payroll growth, we have job growth, we have very low joblessness and we have continued population growth,” Wolkenhauer said. “So never say impossible, but nothing in the bones of the economy right now suggest recession.”