Who's Moving to Boise?

Everybody's talking about the influx of newcomers from California. But census data tell a different story, according to a recent article by Margaret Carmel, a staff writer at The Idaho Press.

It turns out that the majority of people relocating to Ada county between 2013 and 2017 are coming from other counties in Idaho, especially Canyon County, which comprises Nampa and Caldwell and borders Ada county to the west.

During those years, 9,260 folks came from all over Idaho. Meantime, 5,593 hailed from California. Still, California ranks #1 for sources of out-of-state newcomers. Next is Washington, then Utah, Oregon and Colorado.

Ada county has grown by 131,000 new residents since 2010, Carmel writes. This means the Ada county population has swelled by 23 percent since 2010--from 581,288 to an estimated 712,200 today.

The demographic characteristics of the newcomers are concentrated in two camps: people in their mid-20s who are starting families and seeking exciting career choices, and others in their early retirement years. Both are seeking lower housing costs and a higher quality of life than they are finding elsewhere.