2023 Best Suburbs to Raise a Family in Idaho

• Suburb of Boise, ID

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  Rating 4.18 out of 5  65 reviews

Current Resident: We love Eagle, Idaho. It has a small town feel with access to all the things you crave from a larger city: great alternative medicine, amazing restaurants, access to the river, natural parks and limited traffic. We are only a hop, skip and a jump away from the Capital of Idaho, Boise. We love the suburbs, the police protection and support and our small town vibe where many of us shop local first and support small business.... Read 65 reviews

• grade B+

• grade B+

• grade A minus

• Population 29,665

• Suburb of Boise, ID

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  Rating 4.27 out of 5  420 reviews

Current Resident: I have grown up here and one of my favorite things is experiencing all four seasons within an hour! I love being close to the mountains but near civilization. Every spring the trees in my neighborhood turn a beautiful shade of pink. In the winter, Meridian looks like the perfect Christmas town with lights everywhere and a nice blanket of snow perfect for snow angels. The people in Meridian are always so kind and you can always find folks helping each other and cracking jokes. This is my home town, and I love it.... Read 420 reviews

• grade A minus

• grade B+

• grade B+

• Population 115,227

• Suburb in Idaho

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  Rating 4.67 out of 5  3 reviews

Current Resident: Dalton Gardens is a beautiful place. I love how large the properties are. I also love how green it is. The parks are nice and there are trees everywhere. This area is pretty well maintained. I do tend to notice we we are almost always doing construction, which is both a good and a bad thing. It means they are keeping things nice and adjusting to fit the needs of the growing area. ON the negative side, construction always takes so long.... Read 3 reviews

• grade B

• grade B+

• grade B+

• Population 2,492

• Suburb of Boise, ID

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  Rating 4.03 out of 5  40 reviews

Current Resident: I like Middleton, ID. It's a fairly quiet community where everyone knows everyone. It's quickly expanding and we are slowly gaining more people and places. Star is just next door and Star is a lovely place as well. Middleton is just off the freeway while still feeling more rural than most cities close to Boise. Having lived here since 5th grade, it's safe to say I love their schools, too!... Read 40 reviews

• grade B

• grade B

• grade B+

• Population 9,091

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.6 out of 5  42 reviews

Current Resident: It's a great up-and-coming city of Idaho. It feels very safe and welcoming with an excellent community!... Read 42 reviews

• grade B

• grade B+

• grade B

• Population 10,929

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 4 out of 5  10 reviews

Current Resident: I have lived in Fruitland Idaho all my life. It is a great small town with a close sense of community. Growing up in a small town means that everybody knows each other. I am grateful to have grown up this way rather than growing up in a big city. I will always cherish the things I did in Fruitland as a child with my family. For example, I remember going to the pumpkin patch together and picking out huge pumpkins to carve. Fruitland is a very agricultural town so buying produce from each other is very important to keep the community thriving as a whole.... Read 10 reviews

• grade B

• grade B minus

• grade B

• Population 5,903

• Suburb in Idaho

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  Rating 4.16 out of 5  37 reviews

Current Resident: I appreciate the fact that most people are generally courteous and considerate to their neighbors. There are charitable events and community events that bring everybody together. There’s a lake within close proximity and multiple small Retailers. We are growing quite quickly with California fire season and recent political concourse. However, I love my town and plan on spending the rest of my life here.... Read 37 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B+

• grade B

• Population 15,316

• Suburb of Boise, ID

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  Rating 3.36 out of 5  36 reviews

Visitor: The greenbelt is awesome! You can ride for miles. There are restaurants with live music, wineries, parks.... Read 36 reviews

• grade B

• grade B+

• grade B

• Population 12,056

• Suburb in Idaho

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  Rating 3.85 out of 5  104 reviews

Current Resident: I personally have lived in Post Falls my entire life, and have had a pretty good experience. Some of the positives include very nice schools, decent neighborhoods, and an overall beautiful place to live. We also have access to some of the cleanest drinking water via our aquifer, nice parks, an airport in Spokane, and are close to beautiful CDA lake which also has some great amenities. On the other hand, more and more Californians are moving here, and to be completely honest, traffic is worse, schools are overrun, more cookie cutter houses are being built, more low income housing with higher crime rates are being built, and some of them aren't the nicest. Again, I say this respectfully, but would warn anyone wanting to move here of the situation. Overall, Post Falls is quite a great area, but not without its drawbacks.... Read 104 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B

• grade B

• Population 38,162

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.63 out of 5  38 reviews

Current Resident: Rathdrum is a pretty little town resting above Post Falls and Couer d’Alene, Idaho. It is surrounded by mountains and a quick drive away from multiple lakes. The community is amazing, and Rathdrum is a great place to be all four seasons of the year, with ski resorts and water activities, along with an amusement park twenty minutes out! Great place for families.... Read 38 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B

• grade B

• Population 9,099

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 4.05 out of 5  261 reviews

Current Resident: My husband and I had our house built in Coeur d’Alene 3 years ago, but had been visiting for 6 years prior. We came from living our life in the Bay Area of Northern California. Prices have significantly gone up since we’ve been here. Great for us, bad for newcomers. The things we love most about the area is living near all the many lakes, mountains & pine trees. The downtown is so nice! There’s lots of restaurants, bars & shops. Good nightlife (live bands) at a few of the bars. During the Christmas season, downtown is all lit up, especially the Coeur d’Alene Resort & Marina. Tubb’s Hill is where lots of people go for a nice walk/hike with water mountain views. It’s right in the downtown area! We are 45 mins from the Spokane, WA Airport. Fairly close to Montana, too. People here are friendly. Mostly a red state, but as people move here it’s turning a bit more blue. We get all the beautiful seasons! Clean, fresh mountain pine air to breathe. Lots of sunny days.... Read 261 reviews

• grade B

• grade B

• grade B minus

• Population 53,189

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.49 out of 5  41 reviews

Current Resident: I was born and raised in Idaho, I’ve lived in many small Idaho towns. Emmett by far has been my favorite small town to live and raise my children in. The people are great, there’s a lot of outdoor activities to do in the summer, great extra curricular activities for children year round. The only downfall is the middle and high school, very out dated and it’s hard to pass school bonds ect with having an older community and farmers that don’t want to pay higher taxes, so unfortunately the children suffer for that.... Read 41 reviews

• grade B

• grade C

• grade B minus

• Population 7,408

• Suburb of Boise, ID

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  Rating 3.59 out of 5  185 reviews

Current Resident: I was born and raised in Idaho, Boise more specifically. But with the rapid growth that Boise has been experiencing I have mover further out of the city to raise my family and I love it!... Read 185 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade C+

• grade B minus

• Population 58,872

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.77 out of 5  64 reviews

Current Resident: I like that it is relatively small and it does not take too long to get to larger cities. The small community brings everyone closer and the celebration of Kuna days is awesome! Although, since you're in Idaho the humidity is very dry and it gets cold easily. There's really no in-between seasons. It's more like just Summer and Winter.... Read 64 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade C+

• grade B minus

• Population 23,765

• Suburb of Boise, ID

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  Rating 3.79 out of 5  373 reviews

Current Resident: First moved here in 2009 and the people have always been friendly not one rude person walking down the street even now in 2023. Nampa has grown so much over the years and has become a wonderful place for people traveling to stop by and check it out. The old downtown easily acceptable and is very safe. Plenty of things to do; from walking to Knick knack shops, to going to a library, or even stopping by a tuxedo shop. It is also the center of the treasure valley. Some of the architecture when you first drive through the entrance you can tell it is older however there is plenty of modern buildings just with a more vintage feel to it. The people are very caring and welcoming.... Read 373 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• Population 98,881

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.92 out of 5  13 reviews

Current Resident: It's been about 5 years for me and my family that we've lived in the SM area and we love it. It's been growing but we seem to be attracting people who are a good fit for the area. We purchased some raw land and then later a house with 10 acres, and overall my quality of life since moving from Washington has drastically improved! I think that it's a very casual and laid back culture here, mostly conservative (I.e traditional values) for the most part, and a lot of people come here from elsewhere to farm or homestead because of the good balance that you get in the lower panhandle like fruit trees, forest land and all four seasons. While I don't go into town all that frequently I've gotten to know all of the shop owners where I'm a regular and most of the employees. I would just advise to come visit first, like during the annual Paul Bunyan and I also think that we have a really good fair and farmers market, and them decide for yourself, that's what we did and we have no regrets.... Read 13 reviews

• grade C+

• grade B minus

• grade C+

• Population 2,951

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.23 out of 5  66 reviews

Current Resident: What I love about mountain Home is how it is a safe place to raise a family, not to big not to small. There are more than one school to choose for your kids so you can find what fits their needs. Something I would like to see change is instead of money going to a brand new building, is for it to go to making sure the kids are passing, and giving them supplies or extra time with teacher to make sure they have the opportunity to pass. Since the kids switched to the Chromebook I've seen many struggle when normally they are thriving students.... Read 66 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade C+

• grade C+

• Population 15,863

• Suburb in Idaho

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  Rating 5 out of 5  1 review

Current Resident: Everyone is friendly and the snow is beautiful. You can walk around and everyone waves at you. I love that sense of neighborhood. There are tons of hiking areas. Many lakes to go to. It’s the perfect place to settle some roots. I would know I’ve lived in many different places.... Read 1 review

• grade C

• grade B

• grade C+

• Population 1,015

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.79 out of 5  14 reviews

Former Resident: Homedale is a small town where everyone knows each other and its courtesy. I lived in Homedale from 2015-2022 and it was a quiet and peaceful time during my life with graduating Homedale High School. Homedale doesn't have very much events going on due to being a small town but it does show a lot of spirit and pride when it comes to their High School sports.... Read 14 reviews

• grade C+

• grade C minus

• grade C

• Population 2,845

• Town in Idaho

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  Rating 3.25 out of 5  16 reviews

Current Resident: I like the small town and that we are a close nit community that comes together to help one another regardless of background, income, race. We have amazing coaches who care about us and help us to achieve our goals. We might be small but we are mighty!... Read 16 reviews

• grade C

• grade C minus

• grade C minus

• Population 7,999

• Suburb in Idaho

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  Rating 3 out of 5  1 review

• grade C+

• grade B+

• grade B minus

• Population 602

• Suburb in Idaho

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• Population 161