Idaho, by the numbers

The market's people

Idaho has 6 metropolitan statistical areas centered inside it; the largest is Boise City, ID with 811,115 residents. Each has its own page below.

Owner-occupied homes carry a median value of $418,600, 26 percent above the national figure; the national comparison point is $332,700. The typical household income is $77,800, 4 percent below the national figure. For a business that sells to homeowners, that combination sets the ceiling on what a job is worth.

Age and education shape how people search and who answers the phone. The median resident is 37.3 years old, 1.6 years below the national median. Unemployment 3.7%, 2 points below the US share. Homeownership is 72.1% here, 7 points above the US share; that is the pool of people who hire roofers, plumbers and landscapers rather than calling a landlord. The share of adults with a bachelor's or above is 31.8%, 4 points below the US share.

Idaho versus Boise City, ID: income 10 percent lower than the Boise metro figure, home values 11 percent lower than the Boise metro figure, business density about the same as the Boise metro figure.

Competition, counted

By the Census Bureau's count Idaho supports 58,100 employer establishments. That works out to 30 businesses per 1,000 residents, 20 percent above the national figure (the national rate is 25 per 1,000). The busiest category listed below is restaurants (3,328 establishments). Home-services contractors make up 4,116 of those establishments, 7.1% of the total, 2 points above the US share.

The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).

More common here than nationally: concrete contractors, specialty trade contractors, roofing contractors and road and paving contractors. Concrete contractors stand out with 443 locations, 2.7 times what the national mix would predict. Fewer than the national pattern would suggest: grocery stores, personal care services, beauty salons and restaurants. Grocery stores number just 344, about half of the US share, which is room for a well-run operator to be the obvious choice. General automotive repair, automobile dealers and dentists track the US share closely.

On a per-capita basis restaurants come first at 172.1 per 100,000, ahead of physicians' offices and landscaping services. Restaurants (3,328), physicians' offices (1,196) and landscaping services (1,166) are the biggest categories by establishment count. The group picture: the home-services trades above the national pattern at 1.5 times, consumer services (restaurants, salons, child care, grocery) below it at about 74% of.

Where the openings are

Because concrete contractors, specialty trade contractors and roofing contractors are over-represented, a new entrant in those categories competes for a fixed pool of searches against many established profiles. Reviews, photos, response time and a page that answers the exact query are what move the needle; simply outbidding is expensive. For grocery stores, personal care services and beauty salons the picture is the opposite. Fewer competing profiles means a complete listing, a fast site and a modest search budget can take a disproportionate share of the searches that exist. Younger residents (median age 1.6 years below the national median) split their attention between search, social feeds and AI assistants, so the presence has to be in all three. At 72.1% owner-occupied, home-services demand comes straight from residents rather than through landlords.