City · Shoshone County, Idaho

Wallace, Idaho

Wallace is a city in Shoshone County, Idaho. It has 1,027 residents. Wallace, Idaho has a quality-of-life score of 45 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,557 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Idaho it ranks #65 of 101 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), grocery stores (high) and drug overdose deaths (low). It ranks worst on gyms and fitness centers (low), injury deaths (high) and dental care shortage (high).

45Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,557 of 15,651 cities and towns
Idaho: #65 of 101 in ID
Population: 1,027 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,130.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 1684790

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety54#7,133/15,637
Economy35#10,134/15,631
Housing48#7,761/14,977
Health28#11,285/15,609
Healthcare31#10,739/15,650
Environment17#12,759/15,453
Education56#6,842/15,649
Infrastructure65#5,474/15,650
Community62#5,931/15,651
Leisure & amenities88#1,933/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Wallace, Idaho ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Shoshone 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

Restaurants and bars · high29.0 /10k
99/100Idaho 9.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsShoshone County value
Grocery stores · high4.3 /10k
99/100Idaho 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsShoshone County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Idaho 13.2 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataShoshone County value
Public libraries · high4.3 /10k
98/100Idaho 0.9 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesShoshone County value
Loneliness · low31.0%
98/100Idaho 29.7%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Job growth · high3.6%
96/100Idaho 1.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataShoshone County value

Weaknesses

Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Idaho 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsShoshone County value
Injury deaths · high141 /100k
5/100Idaho 84 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteShoshone County value
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Idaho 9.7United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationShoshone County value
Social associations · low5.0 /10k
6/100Idaho 7.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteShoshone County value
Comfortable days · low23.2%
9/100Idaho 24.2%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationShoshone County value
Premature death · high12,530 /100k
10/100Idaho 7,013 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteShoshone County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
946 (2015-2019) → 1,027 (2020-2024)
+8.6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.1% (2015-2019) → 94.2% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
25.2% (2015-2019) → 6.1% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Median household incomeImproving
$36,000 (2015-2019) → $51,492 (2020-2024)
+43%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.3× (2015-2019) → 4.5× (2020-2024)
+37%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
25.2% (2015-2019) → 19.6% (2020-2024)
−5.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Wallace, Idaho improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 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.

Improved3

Uninsured−19 points25.2% → 6.1%
Broadband+19 points75.1% → 94.2%
Household income+43%$36,000 → $51,492

Declined1

Price / income+1.2×3.3× → 4.5×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Wallace, Idaho between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.6 min2015-2019	18.3 min2020-2024	−0.3 min	Within the margin of error	51%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.2%2015-2019	19.6%2020-2024	−5.6 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Broadband subscriptions	75.1%2015-2019	94.2%2020-2024	+19 points	Improved	89%
Effective property tax rate	1.05%2015-2019	0.79%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	69%
High school diploma or higher	90.2%2015-2019	93.0%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Home price to income ratio	3.3×2015-2019	4.5×2020-2024	+1.2×	Declined	15%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4452015-2019	0.4292020-2024	−0.016	Within the margin of error	65%
Median household income	$36,0002015-2019	$51,4922020-2024	+43%	Improved	78%
Poverty rate	17.9%2015-2019	20.1%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	32.8%2015-2019	30.1%2020-2024	−2.7 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Rent-burdened households	52.2%2015-2019	50.3%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	25.2%2015-2019	6.1%2020-2024	−19 points	Improved	100%

“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 Wallace, Idaho five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Wallace, 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, Wallace, Idaho itself moved +7.6 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

1,027 residents (±253)

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

417 households (±99)

Wallace, Idaho
Idaho share

Under $25k24%†101
$25k–50k21%†89
$50k–75k23%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

417 households (±99)

Wallace, Idaho
Idaho share

Own58%240
Rent42%†177

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† 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

422 workers (±130)

Wallace, Idaho
Idaho share

Drive alone64%†272
Carpool6.9%†29
Public transit

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 Shoshone County, the county holding most of Wallace's residents.

Shoshone County has 360 employer establishments, 257 for every 10,000 residents (1.03× the US rate of 248; 0.87× Idaho's), with 4,406 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,166. The Census Bureau also counts 892 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 360; 892 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 257; US 248 · Idaho 295
Paid employees: 4,406
Average annual pay: $49,166; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	35	24.9	1.36×More than typical	363	$19,950	9
Specialty trade contractors	31	22.1	1.43×More than typical	74	$47,230	105
Full-service restaurants	21	15	1.95×More than typical	225	$21,778	—
Ambulatory health care services	16	11.4	0.55×Fewer than typical	247	$25,802	28
Construction of buildings	16	11.4	1.51×More than typical	94	$108,606	44
Lessors of real estate	15	10.7	0.87×About typical	30	$27,200	97
Gasoline stations	13	9.3	2.86×More than typical	62	$23,048	—
Other specialty trade contractors	13	9.3	3.69×More than typical	37	$46,541	42
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	12	8.6	7.05×More than typical	52	$18,077	—
Truck transportation	10	7.1	1.41×More than typical	22	$34,682	10
Grocery and convenience stores	9	6.4	2.16×Too few to compare	134	$31,254	4
Traveler accommodation	9	6.4	3.55×Too few to compare	313	$17,067	7

Rank places for an industry Open Shoshone County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 14,029 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: Wallace is mostly in Shoshone County.

See federal money in Shoshone 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.

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

House

Russ FulcherR-ID-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.6%

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.

Shoshone County48100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Shoshone 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/1684790

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends