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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Idaho

1 persistent-poverty county

Idaho has 1 persistent-poverty counties and 30 nonmetro counties — home to 53,578 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 10.6% and child poverty is 12.5%.

1

Persistent-poverty counties

30

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

54K

Residents in PPCs

44

Total counties

Idaho by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Idaho at a glance

Poverty rate

10.6%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

12.5%

Under 18

PPC share

2.3%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

68.2%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

5.07

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.24

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Idaho's 96 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 44 in Idaho.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Madison 0.52
  2. 2 Boundary 0.37
  3. 3 Adams 0.36
  4. 4 Valley 0.36
  5. 5 Lemhi 0.35

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Madison 26.8%
  2. 2 Butte 21.3%
  3. 3 Lewis 17.4%
  4. 4 Boundary 17.2%
  5. 5 Gooding 15.3%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Madison 26.8%

Every county in Idaho

All 44 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Ada 2 — Retire. 8.5% 9.4% 508,052 0.07
Adams 9 — Retire. 15.0% 13.0% 4,599 0.36
Bannock 3 — — 12.2% 13.8% 88,457 0.12
Bear Lake 9 — — 10.2% 11.9% 6,552 0.34
Benewah 8 — Housing, Retire. 15.0% 20.1% 9,913 0.32
Bingham 6 — — 11.0% 13.3% 48,993 0.23
Blaine 7 — Housing 7.4% 12.0% 24,579 0.25
Boise 2 — Retire. 8.2% 14.4% 8,045 0.07
Bonner 6 — Housing, Retire. 10.7% 17.0% 49,456 0.23
Bonneville 3 — — 9.5% 12.3% 127,056 0.11
Boundary 9 — Retire. 17.2% 23.7% 12,695 0.37
Butte 3 — Pop. loss 21.3% 27.2% 2,654 0.16
Camas 9 — — 6.7% 5.7% 1,155 0.33
Canyon 2 — Retire. 10.1% 12.3% 242,405 0.08
Caribou 8 — — 7.3% 9.8% 7,118 0.29
Cassia 6 — — 10.3% 12.5% 25,165 0.23
Clark 8 — Low ed., Pop. loss, Housing 12.7% 14.3% 776 0.31
Clearwater 8 — Low emp., Pop. loss 12.5% 15.5% 8,921 0.31
Custer 8 — — 11.5% 1.6% 4,411 0.31
Elmore 6 — Low emp., Housing 12.4% 10.7% 29,046 0.24
Franklin 3 — Housing 8.4% 7.7% 14,715 0.11
Fremont 8 — — 9.8% 14.5% 13,701 0.30
Gem 2 — Retire. 10.4% 13.5% 19,854 0.08
Gooding 8 — — 15.3% 22.8% 15,740 0.32
Idaho 8 — Retire. 10.8% 10.8% 17,120 0.31
Jefferson 3 — — 9.2% 11.5% 32,234 0.11
Jerome 3 — — 13.9% 17.7% 24,788 0.13
Kootenai 3 — Housing, Retire. 9.3% 12.4% 177,736 0.11
Latah 4 — Housing 15.3% 11.3% 40,315 0.17
Lemhi 9 — Housing, Retire. 11.8% 11.2% 8,166 0.35
Lewis 8 — — 17.4% 21.1% 3,649 0.33
Lincoln 8 — — 9.4% 9.2% 5,276 0.30
Madison 4 Yes Housing 26.8% 15.4% 53,578 0.52
Minidoka 7 — — 14.9% 20.6% 21,922 0.28
Nez Perce 3 — — 13.1% 17.6% 42,477 0.13
Oneida 8 — — 11.8% 11.0% 4,681 0.31
Owyhee 2 — Low ed. 13.4% 19.7% 12,284 0.09
Payette 6 — Retire. 9.0% 11.5% 26,190 0.22
Power 8 — — 8.1% 7.0% 8,018 0.29
Shoshone 8 — Retire. 15.1% 20.3% 13,580 0.32
Teton 9 — Housing, Retire. 9.4% 8.1% 12,101 0.34
Twin Falls 3 — Housing 10.7% 15.2% 92,121 0.12
Valley 9 — Housing, Retire. 14.2% 14.1% 12,136 0.36
Washington 6 — Housing, Retire. 15.3% 18.6% 10,866 0.25

Find a food pantry in Idaho

Search Idaho's 96 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Idaho pantry directory

Idaho SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Idaho SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Idaho food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology