Boise is among the country’s fastest-growing metro

April 19, 2017

Two of Idaho’s metro statistical areas are among the country’s top 20 for population growth, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.  
In a new release, the department used U.S. Census Bureau information collected between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2016 to better illustrate Idaho’s population growth of 1.8 percent, which brought the state to 1,683,140 residents.  Coeur d’Alene was Idaho ‘s fastest-growing metro statistical area during that time, increasing by 3,947 residents or 2.6 percent of its population.  That was the 11th-fastest growth percentage for a metro in the country.  

The Treasure Valley was the 19th fastest-growing metro in the country and the second-fastest in Idaho.  It grew by 15,646 residents or 2.3 percent of its population, according to the Department of Labor.  A metro statistical area is defined as a group of counties with similar commuting patterns due to a urban core with at least 50,000 residents.  Individual counties experiencing high growth rates such as Valley County, Idaho’s fastest county and the country’s 16th- fastest growing country with a growth rate of 4.1 percent, didn’t count toward the ranking, said Janell Hyer, research analyst at the Idaho Department of Labor.  

Overall, Idaho was the third-fastest-growing state after Utah and Nevada during the analyzed time period, according to the United States Census Bureau.  Idaho growth was mostly focused in Ada, Canyon, Kootenai, Bonneville, Bannock and Twin Falls counties, which accounted for 77 percent of the state’s increase in population, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.  

Idaho Business Review, Benton Alexander Smith