There is no doubt in any Idahoan’s mind that Idaho’s population has been growing rapidly over the recent years. Although most don’t understand what lasting effect this could have on Idaho, most do know why it’s happening. Some of the reasons include cost of living, quality of life, and politics.

Although most people think that Idaho is a low-cost place to live, it has slowly over time become untrue, due to the amount of people moving into the gem state. The Composite Cost of Living Index published by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center states, “the cost of living in Idaho is 2.1% higher than it is on average nationwide. This ranks Idaho as the 20th highest among states,” (MER). As you read, the cost of living in Idaho is significantly higher, even in all of America, being higher than average nationwide. Sadly, there’s really not anything we can do about it.

Because of the interest rate going up, house prices have increased a lot in the last couple of years. Although most middle class adults used to be able to afford it, due to the interest rate, most can’t, and it makes it harder for young adults to buy or rent houses aswell. There is nothing we can do to change this sadly, so until the interest rate goes down, we must wait.

Another thing that has caused Idaho to grow is the quality of life in Idaho. Although it is a normal assumption that all new people moving to Idaho are from states like California or New York for better priced houses, it’s actually not very true. People moving from other states could be moving for multiple reasons, one of which is quality of life.

What is quality of life? The English dictionary states it as, “the standard of health, comfort, and happiness experienced by an individual or group.” As you just read stories about people migrating to Idaho, many aren’t moving to Idaho just because of prices—it’s basic lifestyle and their quality of life that are major factors.

Lastly, politics are a huge reason some people move to Idaho. The state’s conservative politics have played a part in many people moving to the state after they suffered under overbearing restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.