New Census data shows in-migration drove 1.5% population increase statewide

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Bonner County was among the 12 counties in Idaho to outpace the state’s overall growth rate of 1.5% last year, adding 1,246 residents between July 2023 and July 2024 for a total increase of 2.4% — the second-highest percentage change behind Canyon County, which grew 3.1% over the period.

According to U.S. Census population estimates shared by the Idaho Department of Labor in March, Bonner is ranked as the eighth-most populous county in the state, with 53,955 residents, compared to seventh-largest Madison County, which counted 55,549 residents but with only a 0.8% growth rate year over year. Ninth-place Bingham added 491 residents for a total population of 50,889, or a 1% growth rate.

“The COVID-19 pandemic brought a rush of new residents to Idaho, particularly impacting rural areas of low population density that offered outdoor recreation,” stated Labor Economist Jan Roeser in a news release.

Bonner County’s population was 47,403 in 2020 — the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic — meaning it has grown more than 13.8% over the past five years. 

However, as Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm pointed out at the March 19 meeting of the City Council, that level of growth hasn’t been mirrored within city limits.

According to Grimm, Sandpoint has grown 4.12% over the past four years, with an estimated total population of 10,886.

“Just for reflection, our Comp Plan anticipates growth of about 2.5% [per year], so you know that 4.12% over four years is significantly below that,” he said. “So although it feels like we’re growing fast, we’re kind of steady and plugging away a little over 1% a year.” 

Meanwhile, Grimm added that some multi-family family units in the city are seeing vacancy rates of 15%, which he said developers have described as “some of the highest they’ve ever seen in the history of these units.” 

Grimm indicated that could represent declining prices, “so that’s good for economic development and attracting employers to our community.”

Statewide population grew by more than 30,497 during the July 2023-’24 period, with a general trend toward already high-population counties receiving the most growth — “likely due to the larger population areas having more services to offer the aging populations,” Roeser added.

The top 10 most-populous counties represented 26,076 new residents in the state, which census officials stated is an increased rate of 30% from 2022-’23. Only Nez Perce County saw a decline, losing 131 residents.

“Combined, the [top 10 counties] were responsible for 86% of Idaho’s growth in 2024, a jump from the 2023 level of 74.6%,” the Labor Department stated.

As in previous years, the U.S. Census reported that the vast majority of growth in Idaho came from net in-migration — 80% of the most recent population increase stemmed from individuals moving to the state, leaving only 20% of growth to natural change, defined as births minus deaths.

Also as in past years, Bonner was among the counties that experienced negative natural change, meaning deaths outnumbered births, joining 13 other counties.

Neither Boundary nor Kootenai were listed among the counties with negative natural change, with the former logging a population of 14,040 (up from 13,557 the year before) and the latter with 188,323 (up from 185,010), ranking it third in the state for total population — behind only Ada and Canyon counties.

Shoshone, however, did mark negative natural change from 2023-’24, though it experienced a slight increase in overall population from 14,026 to 14,074. 

More U.S. Census info is available at census.gov/data, and the Idaho Department of Labor has localized data at lmi.idaho.gov/census.