5 THINGS I HATE ABOUT LIVING IN IDAHO
Editor's note: This post was written by Isaac Crace, Judit's son and our Idaho-born, third-generation Realtor. These are his firsthand observations after 25 years of living here.
From someone who has lived here his entire life
For every person who loves living in Idaho, there are about five other people who absolutely hate it. The real question is simple. Will you love it, or will you hate it?
I have lived in Idaho my entire life. I am 25 years in, and while I love this state, there are a handful of things that genuinely drive me up a wall.
If you are thinking about moving here, these are the kinds of realities you need to understand before making the jump so you do not end up regretting your move.
Start Here If You Are Researching Idaho
If you are researching what it is really like to live in Idaho, I have written dozens of in depth guides covering moving to Idaho, the cost of living, Boise area communities, and what day to day life is actually like here.
You can explore those here.
Moving to Idaho
Where to Live in Boise
Idaho Is No Longer Cheap (Especially Housing)
One of the first things people notice when they start researching Idaho is how expensive it has become. What throws people off is that it is not expensive across the board.
Food is cheap. Fuel is cheap. Vehicle prices are reasonable. Registration and taxes are some of the lowest in the nation. I recently saw a statistic saying Idaho has the most custom vehicle plates in the entire United States, largely because of how cheap registration costs are here.
Where Idaho has become expensive is land and housing.
Idaho simply is not cheap anymore. Unless you are coming here after selling a home in another state and bringing a large amount of equity with you, homeownership is nowhere near as attainable as it was ten years ago or even five years ago.
To break into the housing market in the Boise area, you realistically need to be around three hundred fifty thousand dollars at a minimum, and ideally closer to four hundred thousand. Even then, you are usually looking at homes on the outskirts of the valley.
If you want to be closer to Boise, Meridian, or Star, you generally need to be north of five hundred thousand before inventory really opens up.
Then there is Eagle, which is easily the most sought after suburb in the Boise area. Last year, the median sales price there was just shy of one million dollars.
If you are selling a home elsewhere and bringing a strong down payment, prices here may not feel that bad. But for people who grew up here, especially first time homebuyers, many are simply priced out.
If you want to see what prices actually look like right now, you can search homes around the Boise area directly on my website. I also break this down in much more detail throughout my Living in Boise and the Treasure Valley guides where I go city by city.
Driving at Night Is Brutal
Driving at night in Idaho is something most people do not think about until they experience it firsthand.
It is extremely dark here. There are very few streetlights, and at night it feels pitch black. Years ago, I was visiting Florida and got pulled over because we were driving with our headlights off and did not even realize it. That experience blew our minds because back home in Idaho, you would never forget to turn your headlights on. You simply would not be able to see anything.
The bigger issue is lane visibility.
At night, especially when it is raining, the road striping can be almost impossible to see. I have had multiple drives where I slowed down to around forty five miles an hour on the interstate during a downpour, hoping I was still in my lane.
That is on the freeway. On some back roads, I have genuinely considered pulling over and waiting until morning because I could not see the road clearly enough to feel safe.
Wildfires and Summer Smoke
Wildfires can be one of the most frustrating parts of living in Idaho, depending on the year.
Most summers are not bad at all. Some years only have a handful of triple digit days and very little smoke in the valley.
The summer of 2024 was the most miserable summer I have ever experienced living here.
We had an entire month of triple digit temperatures and an entire month where the valley was completely filled with wildfire smoke. There were mornings where I woke up feeling like I had spent the entire night sucking down a nasty cigar I found in a gutter.
When fires are close, ash can even fall from the sky. You might not notice it immediately, but if you leave your vehicle parked outside, you will see a fine layer of ash collecting on it.
This is not something that happens every year. I have only seen it that bad a couple times over the last few decades, but it is absolutely something you need to be prepared for if you want to live in Idaho long term.
Extreme Daylight Swings
Because Idaho sits so far north, the difference in daylight between summer and winter is extreme.
In the summer, daylight is incredible. It starts getting light around six in the morning and stays light until close to ten at night. If you love being outside, Idaho summers are hard to beat.
The downside is winter.
In the winter, the sun does not come up until around eight in the morning, and it is dark again by about five thirty. If you are an outdoors person like I am, this can be brutal.
It is cold, dark, and there is not much to do once the sun goes down. Winter can feel long, boring, and mentally draining if you are not prepared for it.
Road Construction Is Constant
In Idaho, we have two seasons. Winter and road construction.
Roads need to be built and repaired, especially with the amount of growth we have seen since COVID. That part makes sense. What frustrates people is the lack of coordination.
The Boise area is laid out mostly in one mile by one mile grids. Right now, the major road one block above me is closed, and the next major road above that is also closed.
Instead of driving straight to my destination, I have to go a mile west, two miles north, and then a mile back east just to get back on track.
That four mile detour may not sound like much, but when you deal with it day after day, it becomes one of the most frustrating parts of daily life here.
Want to Learn More About Living in Idaho?
If you are still researching Idaho and trying to decide if it is the right fit for you, these guides will help you go deeper.
Moving to Idaho
Ultimate Idaho New Construction Guide
Pros and Cons of Living in Idaho
Final Thoughts
Idaho is an incredible place to live, but it is not for everyone.
If you understand these downsides before you move here, you are far less likely to regret your decision. If you move here assuming Idaho is still cheap, easy, and perfect year round, you are probably going to struggle.
If you found value in this, you can watch the Video that inspired this Below
Boise Area Relocation Guide (Official Written Resource)
If you’re serious about moving to Boise Idaho and trying to figure out which town actually fits your lifestyle, I put together a full written breakdown that goes even deeper than this video.
It covers the atmosphere, lifestyle differences, pricing tendencies, commute considerations, and growth patterns for each of the top towns around the Boise area.
5 Things I hate About Living in Idaho
For every person who loves living in Idaho, there are at least five other people who absolutely hate it. From my 25 years living here in Idaho, there are
some things that absolutely drive me up a wall. So, to make sure that you don't regret living in the Boisee, Idaho area, I'm going to tell you the five things
that really chap my ass about living in Boisee, Idaho. One of the first things right off the bat that sucks about living in Idaho is the cost
to actually live here. Now, it's not on all fronts, however, like food, registration, and the actual cost of living here. Utilities are super cheap.
Uh, I just saw a guy on Instagram that was saying that Idaho has the most custom plates for vehicles than any other state in the nation, and that's
because our registration costs are super cheap. Like, I'm sitting right here next to my Jeep. I have custom plates on it.
It cost me like 80 bucks a year for registration, and that's if I add the park pass on it. But the expensive part
about living in Idaho is the land. Land anywhere in the West is no longer cheap.
And it really has kind of made housing for people who were born and raised here. A lot of people in my generation in the last 5 to 10 years really
unattainable on a single income. And that's one of the main things that really sucks about the changes that's happened in Idaho over the last 10 15
years. I mean, just to break into the housing market here, you're going to be at a minimum of 350. I was just talking about this to someone the other day. 350
minimum and that's not going to get you in downtown Boisey. That's going to put you out here on the west end of the valley somewhere. I'm out here at Lake
Lo right now. Uh you can see the Boisey Mountains and Boiseies out west behind me. In fact, you might be able to hear the geese. However, 350 really to break
into the market, but that's not a solid 350. Like if you want to consistently start seeing homes, you really need to be above that four mark and ideally
closer to the 450 mark. And if you want to go closer to Boyisey, like say you want Meridian or you want Star or Boisey
or Kuna, anything like that, you really need to be above that $500,000 mark, which just sounds crazy to say. When we
sold our house that we grew up in 5 years ago, right when CO started, we sold it for $275,000 and that wasn't an entry-level home. The
price of housing here has got pretty expensive. And the main thing behind that has been the land. If you're going to buy just one acre really, it's hard
to find one acre. But when I have a lot of people reach out to me that are looking for land, they want an acre or 5 acres or something like that. If they go
up north of here to Emit, Idaho, it's north of the Boisee area by about 20 to 30 minutes. That's kind of the last place where you can really get 5 acres to build a house on for somewhat cheap.
And for 5 acres, you're really looking at about 350 to 400,000. That's just for land. Doesn't include utilities or anything like that. So you're down here
in the Boisee, Idaho area. You're closer to 100 an acre, which is is wild to think of, but it drives everything involving cost of housing up.
Wow, look at these prices. Yeah, these are pretty cha-ching.
you're looking at like maybe a studio or an apartment somewhere in a high-rise.
Eagle Idaho, for instance, is one of the most popular and sought-after suburbs here in the Boisee area. And just last
year, the median sales price in Eagle, Idaho was a million dollar. Now, that's not the entry level. I had some clients
who got in at the $500,000 mark in uh Eagle. However, a million dollar is the median sales price in Eagle, Idaho,
which for somebody like myself who's born here, born and raised here in the Boisee area, seeing that is absolutely wow. And I remember growing up, we would
drive to Eagle and we'd see these gorgeous houses and we're like, "Wow, that's a $400,000 house." And now those
same houses are probably at the $2 million mark or at least a million and a half and up. So that's just it it absolutely baffles my mind that we've
gotten to this point. Nevertheless, for folks who were born and raised here in my generation, housing has become really
really hard to attain if you're at that average or the median income level. I know a lot of folks that I went to school with, they've moved out of the
Boisee area simply because it's too expensive to live here. The second thing that I hate the most about living here
in Idaho is driving at night. Now, if you're not visually challenged, like these are prescriptions. I just got prescriptions last year. Driving at
night really sucks. We don't have hardly any street lights here in Idaho. And that's something that I didn't realize until I got older. I was on a trip in Florida with some friends and we were driving around and we got pulled over.
were like, "Why are we getting pulled over?" And it was at night. It was probably like 10:00 and the officer was like, "You don't have your lights on." Like, "What are you talking about? We don't have our lights on." And sure enough, we didn't have our headlights on
in the vehicle. The reason I'm saying this is that we didn't realize that we didn't have our headlights on because in Florida, they had so many street lights and we could see perfectly fine. Here in
Idaho, if you don't have your headlights on at night, you won't be able to see anything at all. The lines on the roads
really suck. In addition to that, I wish, you know, I've seen places like Australia, they have glow-in-the-dark paint for the lines on the road. But for my visually challenged folks like
myself, especially if it's raining, you get raining, you get that glare on the asphalt and the black top. I mean, we're in the middle of the desert here, so we
don't get rain too often, but when we do, we do get, you know, pretty heavy showers in the spring and the fall time.
I remember one time I was driving on the back roads and I was like, I cannot I don't know where I am. I don't know on the road where I am. So, I was like, I
I'll get to the interstate, Interstate 84. That's the biggest road in the area.
Surely surely we'll have enough lights on the road to see. And I think that was a far worse decision because now I'm going 65 70 mph and I'm playing the game
of boy, I think the lane is here. I hope nobody comes close to me or anything like that. So, that's the one major
thing that I really hate about living here is it's impossible to see at night.
I'm blind. I'm blind. Before we get to the next point, I just want to take a minute to introduce the channel sponsor and that is myself. My name is Isaac
Grace. I am a fourth generation Idaho and I was born and raised here in the area and that's one of the reasons that
people do like working with me. I've been building this YouTube channel for 5 years now. I'm just trying to provide the most in-depth information to any of
you who may be moving to the Boisee Idaho area or have the consideration of doing it. I've been doing this for the last five years as a local raised in the
area providing this information. And when folks like working with me, they like working with me because it's me.
I'm a oneman band. If you call my phone number, I'm not going to sell your lead to somebody else. I'm not going to pass you off to a team member or send you down a funnel. I'm just giving genuine
information and I don't like to fearmonger. That's one thing that's made social media kind of tough because social media and media in general is just who can fearmonger the most. Just
take the news for instance. So if you want the unadulterated truth about what it's like living here in Idaho in the
boyisey area specifically, reach out to me. Let's make it happen. You can call me, text me, anything like that if you have any questions and I'm more than
willing to just shoot the breeze with you and we can discuss if Boisey is even the right place for you because I've had a lot of people that call me and after
we talk it's like, you know, I I don't think the Boisee, Idaho area is the right place for me. And that's totally okay. I want you guys to be happy on where you end up.
I want you to be happy. I really do.
The wildfires in the summer here in the Boisee, Idaho area or in the West in general are one of the things that I
hate about living in the West. I'm filming this in the beginning of March 2026 and we'll see. We had a very light winter, so we'll see how this summer what this summer has in store for us.
Like when it comes to weather in general in the Boisee, Idaho area, a normal year like last year, we have maybe one or two days that go above 100 degrees. And when
I say go above 100 degrees, I mean like 100°, 101. 105 was the hottest I've ever seen it here. And that was for one day.
2024, however, for instance, was the hottest year I've ever witnessed living here in the Boisee area. We set a new
record for 30 days. It was over 100°. It was right there at about the 100 101 102. We also had the worst wildfire
season that we've ever had. And you can see if I do a spin, I'm kind of in a flat area. We're a ways away
from the mountains. So, that's one of the nice things is that even if we do have fires, they're not down here where
everybody lives. We have fires up in the mountains, up in the foothills back behind me, but it doesn't come out to where anybody is living. So, if you're
concerned about, I know a lot of you are looking at moving here from California where you had really bad wildfires uh 2 years ago and I think it was paradise.
But that's one of the things, you know, you don't have to worry about the immediate threat of wildfires here.
However, we are in a valley here. So, if we do get wildfires, the smoke will come in here and it'll sock in here. If you've watched any of my other videos,
what's going on. And those are from the 20 24 years where it was really smoky here in the valley. Now I have asthma. I
have an inhaler and the smoke has never been to the point where I've ever had issues with it. Like in the year 2024, it was smoky. It sucked. Your throat's
dry, but I've never had any issues with the smoke to the point that I had to use my inhaler. If you've ever like smoked a
a cigar and you you have that kind of dry, ashy feel in your mouth. It's kind
of like that but a little bit less. But again, I've only seen it in my entire life living here. I've only seen it get that way a couple years. If it's really
bad, you can get some ash on the car, but it's more like a dust. If you didn't know that it was ash, you would probably just think it was dusty. Now,
the other thing that sucks about living here in the Boisee, Idaho area is the daylight hours. You may have heard me say in some
of my other videos that these summers are great up here. You know, we have these long days. It gets light at 6. It gets dark at 10:00 at night or that's
when the sun sets about 10:00. So, it gets dark a little bit later than that, closer to 10:30, 11 time frame. Now, you might think that sounds pretty good. And
I agree it does sound pretty good. I like to come out to the lake in the summer, go fishing or do anything like that after I'm done working at the, you
know, if you finish up working at five o'clock, you still got five hours of daylight. You can go out and do anything, run the trails, anything like that. However, it's because we're so far
north. And because we are so far north in the northern hemisphere, we get the opposite of that in the winter. In the winter, our days are really short. It
gets light about 7 8:00 in the morning and it's dark by 5. So, if you're going to work in the morning, then you're coming home in the evening. It's dark and it really starts to weigh on you.
You don't realize it um until the springtime. Like right now, I'm outside and it's like, wait, I'm I feel like
better than normal. Maybe I was a little bit depressed. When I was growing up, I wrestled in high school. So, I'd go to
practice before school in the morning, get there at like 5:30, 6:00 in the morning before the sun comes up, have my wrestling practice, go through the school day, then I'd have wrestling
practice after school for a couple hours. So, there was several periods of time, you know, during the winter where I wouldn't see the sun hardly at all
unless I got outside between a passing period or lunch or anything like that.
So, if you're somebody who's sensitive to the sunlight or the lack thereof, then you might notice it start to weigh on you. living here in the Boisee area.
Now, here in Idaho, we do have two seasons. We have the winter season and we have road construction season. And
that's because we're always doing road construction here in the area. Over the last 5 years, we've seen the extreme of that with all the growth playing a game of catch up. But the thing about that
that really sucks is there's a bunch of different agencies that are working from city to city and and it's not uncommon that you're driving through one city to
the other. You might drive through a few cities on your commute or towns or suburbs, metros, whatever, whatever you want to call those. However, it doesn't
seem like there's ever coordination when they're closing roads. They'll close the road here and they don't put signs up or that you'll just be driving. It's like,
"Oh, this road is closed now." So, you go to take a detour and then the next road is closed and the next road is closed. So, you go on a big detour. If
you look at a map of the Boisee area, everything out here was pretty flat when we charted the roads. So, a lot of the roads besides Interstate 84 run on a
north and south east and west grid. And if you're looking at the Google map, each of those grids is a mile apart, called a country mile. So, if they're
working on one of those main roads, instead of driving straight through, you got to go a mile up, mile across, mile back down to get back to your course.
Now, if they're working on the next one up, that's what'll that's what'll really grind your gears because you have to add extra few miles to that detour. That's
the other main thing that sucks about living here in the Boisee Idaho area.
So, if you found any value in this video, do yourself a huge favor.
Subscribe to the channel. Like I said, I'm a born and raised Idaho and I've seen how the valley has changed. I know every single suburb in this valley like
the back of my hand because I've grown up around it. This is my world. If you want to work with somebody who knows how to do that or if you have any questions, give me a call. My number's right there.
Days, nights, weekends. Again, I'm not going to sell your information to somebody else. I'm not going to pass you off to a team member, anything like
that. You call me, you get me, and if you come to the Boisee, Idaho area, I'm the one that's going to be picking
you up, showing you around. Till next time, I'm Isaac Grace with Top Idol Real Estate.
Hi, I'm Isaac Crace. I'm an Idaho native, third-generation Realtor, and I've been covering life in the Boise area on my Moving to Idaho YouTube channel for over five years. If you want to go deeper on any of this, the channel has hundreds of videos covering neighborhoods, cost of living, new construction, and what day to day life here actually looks like.
Unlike most YouTube relocation channels, I'm not just the face in front of the camera passing you off to someone else. If you're moving to Idaho and want help finding your next home, I'm the one who will actually work with you. Call or text me directly at 208-571-5387.
FAQ
Is Idaho still affordable?
Idaho is affordable in some ways. Food, fuel, and registration costs are low. But housing has gotten expensive fast. To buy in the Boise area you realistically need $350,000 minimum, and closer to the city that number climbs well above $500,000.
How bad is wildfire smoke in Idaho?
Most summers are manageable with only a few smoky days. But bad years like 2024 can bring a full month of heavy smoke that fills the entire valley. If you live here long term, you need to be prepared for the years when it gets bad.
What are Idaho winters like?
Idaho winters are cold and dark. The sun rises around 8am and sets by 5:30pm. If you are someone who needs sunlight and outdoor activity to feel good, the long winter months can feel mentally draining.
Is driving in Idaho difficult?
Daytime driving is fine. At night it is a different story. Most roads have very few streetlights, and during rain the lane markings can nearly disappear. If you are coming from a well-lit metro area it will take some getting used to.
Is road construction bad in Idaho?
Yes, especially in the Boise area. Rapid growth since COVID means roads are constantly being built or repaired. Poor coordination means detours are frequent and frustrating for daily commuters.
Is Idaho a good place to live?
For the right person, absolutely. But it is not for everyone. If you go in with realistic expectations about housing costs, winters, and lifestyle differences, you are much more likely to love it here.
Posted by Judit Crace on
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