Idaho’s growth is slowing, but some counties — including Bonner — outpace the state average

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

The Idaho Department of Labor reported in January that the state’s population growth had slowed in 2023 to 1.3%, though still outpacing the national growth rate of 0.5%. However, new numbers released March 27 showed that almost half of Idaho’s counties grew faster than the state average — including Bonner County, which is ranked eighth in overall population among the 44 counties. 

Bonner County grew 2.2% from July 2022 to July 2023, for a total of 52,547 residents, ranking second on a percentage basis among the top-10 most populous counties, behind only Canyon, which grew by 2.7% year-over-year.

The Labor Department has previously reported that in-migration, rather than natural increase, has fueled Idaho’s increase in residents over the past eight years — 78% of the growth statewide from 2022 to 2023 resulted from residents moving to the state from elsewhere, while only 22% of growth came from births counted against deaths.

In Bonner County, net in-migration accounted for 1,246 new residents, which ranked as the fourth highest statewide.

“Reduced fertility rates have negatively affected natural change, and analysts point to generational challenges like the high cost of housing, medical care, child care and post-secondary education as reasons younger people are delaying household formation,” the Labor Department reported.

As has been the case historically, southwestern Idaho continued to contribute the most to the state’s overall population growth, with the region accounting for 46% of the state’s total population and 57% to its overall growth from July 2022 to July 2023. 

Despite Idaho’s reputation as a primarily rural state, its urban areas account for 72% — or 1.4 million — of residents, while the rural population accounted for 28%, or 542,000 residents.

Full tables are accessible at lmi.idaho.gov/census.