City · Bear Lake County, Idaho

Montpelier, Idaho

Montpelier is a city in Bear Lake County, Idaho. It has 2,694 residents. Montpelier, Idaho has a quality-of-life score of 56 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,860 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Idaho it ranks #49 of 101 cities and towns. It ranks best on loneliness (low), hot days (low) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on social associations (low), average weekly wage (low) and flu vaccinations (low).

56Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,860 of 15,651 cities and towns
Idaho: #49 of 101 in ID
Population: 2,694 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,162.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 1653920

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety83#2,680/15,637
Economy47#8,245/15,631
Housing59#6,173/14,977
Health56#6,894/15,609
Healthcare21#12,312/15,650
Environment98#373/15,453
Education18#12,856/15,649
Infrastructure17#12,998/15,650
Community64#5,590/15,651
Leisure & amenities80#3,075/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Montpelier, Idaho ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bear Lake County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Loneliness · low30.1%
99/100Idaho 29.7%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Hot days · low0 days
99/100Idaho 13 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBear Lake County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.6 µg/m³
98/100Idaho 8.2 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBear Lake County value
New homes permitted · high25.6 /1k
97/100Idaho 9.2 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Property crime rate · low290 /100k
97/100Idaho 605 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationBear Lake County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low100 min
96/100Idaho 144 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBear Lake County value

Weaknesses

Social associations · low0.0 /10k
0/100Idaho 7.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBear Lake County value
Average weekly wage · low$787
0/100Idaho $1,200United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBear Lake County value
Flu vaccinations · low26.0%
3/100Idaho 36.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBear Lake County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Idaho 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBear Lake County value
Students per teacher · high20.5×
7/100Idaho 17.8×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsBear Lake County value
Job growth · low-3.0%
7/100Idaho 1.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBear Lake County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
2,518 (2015-2019) → 2,694 (2020-2024)
+7%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
3.1 /1k (2021) → 25.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+736%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
30.7% (2015-2019) → 4.4% (2020-2024)
−26 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
43.1% (2015-2019) → 58.4% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateImproving
21.6% (2015-2019) → 7.8% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$42,447 (2015-2019) → $61,375 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Montpelier, Idaho improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 8 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Poverty−14 points21.6% → 7.8%

Declined2

Uninsured+7 points7.7% → 14.6%
Bachelor's+−6 points21.0% → 15.1%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Montpelier, Idaho between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.1 min2015-2019	31.3 min2020-2024	+6.2 min	Within the margin of error	7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.0%2015-2019	15.1%2020-2024	−6 points	Declined	5%
Broadband subscriptions	82.8%2015-2019	85.9%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Effective property tax rate	0.76%2015-2019	0.54%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	62%
High school diploma or higher	90.5%2015-2019	86.2%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.9×2020-2024	+1.2×	Within the margin of error	16%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4492015-2019	0.4162020-2024	−0.033	Within the margin of error	76%
Median household income	$42,4472015-2019	$61,3752020-2024	+45%	Within the margin of error	80%
Poverty rate	21.6%2015-2019	7.8%2020-2024	−14 points	Improved	97%
Rent as share of income	26.8%2015-2019	31.0%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Rent-burdened households	43.1%2015-2019	58.4%2020-2024	+15 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.7%2015-2019	14.6%2020-2024	+7 points	Declined	6%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Montpelier, Idaho five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Montpelier, Idaho in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Montpelier, Idaho itself moved −15.5 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,694 residents (±29)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,025 households (±97)

Montpelier, Idaho
Idaho share

Under $25k18%†187
$25k–50k24%†249
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,025 households (±97)

Montpelier, Idaho
Idaho share

Own86%884
Rent14%†141

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+19.9 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,110 workers (±101)

Montpelier, Idaho
Idaho share

Drive alone76%848
Carpool13%†147
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Bear Lake County, the county holding most of Montpelier's residents.

Bear Lake County has 168 employer establishments, 249 for every 10,000 residents (1.00× the US rate of 248; 0.84× Idaho's), with 1,081 paid employees at an average annual pay of $38,226. The Census Bureau also counts 568 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 168; 568 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 249; US 248 · Idaho 295
Paid employees: 1,081
Average annual pay: $38,226; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Bear Lake County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	20	29.6	1.91×More than typical	40	$35,525	50
Restaurants and other eating places	12	17.8	0.97×About typical	124	$15,315	4
Ambulatory health care services	8	11.8	0.57×Too few to compare	37	$35,243	18
Construction of buildings	8	11.8	1.57×Too few to compare	23	$50,522	24
Other specialty trade contractors	8	11.8	4.72×Too few to compare	11	$48,818	25
Building equipment contractors	7	10.4	1.72×Too few to compare	15	$45,800	7
Gasoline stations	7	10.4	3.20×Too few to compare	79	$22,025	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	7	10.4	1.54×Too few to compare	21	$43,810	62
Truck transportation	7	10.4	2.05×Too few to compare	8	$52,500	9
Limited-service restaurants	6	8.9	1.11×Too few to compare	70	$11,729	—
Full-service restaurants	5	7.4	0.96×Too few to compare	41	$24,341	—
Landscaping services	5	7.4	2.11×Too few to compare	18	$47,556	7

Rank places for an industry Open Bear Lake County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 6,755 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Montpelier is mostly in Bear Lake County.

See federal money in Bear Lake County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Montpelier, Idaho is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Michael K. SimpsonR-ID-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 95%Missed 2.1%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Bear Lake County75100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Bear Lake County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1653920

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends