Over a 20 year period ending in 2023, Idaho's population grew about three times faster than the U.S. average. With that growth came a lot of changes to the Gem State, especially in rural areas.
Rural counties are aging rapidly, the cost of housing has shot up and there's a shortage of workers. All these issues are changing the rural character of our state and tracking those changes are crucial to the future of Idaho.
The Idaho Department of Labor has released its 2025 Profile of Rural Idaho, an update to its 2005 look at the Economic and Social Trends Shaping the Rural Populations of Idaho.
Lisa Grigg and Seth Harrington, labor economists with the Idaho Department of Labor and co-authors of the report, joined Idaho Matters to break it down.