1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey

Idaho’s median household income growth rate led the nation during the most recent five-year period tracked in the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

The increase between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022 was 15%, to $70,214. Median means that half of the state’s households had incomes higher than that, and half had incomes lower.

“The latest rankings for household incomes confirm what many Idahoans already know — our business-friendly atmosphere and commonsense approach to governing translate to prosperity and higher incomes,” Gov. Brad Little said in a statement. “Time after time, Idaho surges ahead of the competition in economic performance and job growth.”

Rapid population growth during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed partly to the jump in median household income, according to an Idaho Department of Labor news release. The need for entry-level service workers exceeded the supply of willing employees, boosting wages in sectors such as health care and social assistance, food service and lodging accommodations and education.

Meanwhile, an exit of retirees from the state’s workforce led to higher wages necessary to recruit and retain employees, according to the department. Also during the pandemic, a housing boom increased demand for construction workers.

Idaho’s wage increase may be influenced by remote workers choosing to work in a higher-wage state while living in a state with a lower wage structure, labor economist Jan Roeser said in the release.

California ranked second to Idaho in median income growth between the five-year periods, at 14.3%. Oregon and Washington — each at 14% — were next, followed by Arizona at 13.3%.

States with less economic diversity and a robust energy sector — including Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota and Oklahoma — saw declining or stagnant wages, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Housing unit growth was led by the District of Columbia at 13.7%. Utah ranked second at 11.1% followed by Texas at 9.8%, Idaho at 8.2% and Colorado at 7.8%.

Growth in housing units can contribute to loss of farmland.

In Idaho, an increase of nearly 57,000 housing units between the two periods was largely driven by the Boise Metropolitan Statistical Area, which accounted for 62% of the change, according to the state Department of Labor. Other contributing counties included Bonneville with an increase of 9.4% or 1,316 units, Kootenai with 11.4% or 7,745 and Twin Falls County with 7.9% or 2,549.

Seventeen counties — generally smaller in population, less dense and rural — had a loss of housing units. The biggest declines in total units occurred in Elmore at minus 2.2% or 275 units, Fremont at minus 2.8% or 249, and Lemhi at minus 4.5% or 219.