This is the Best County to Live in Idaho

The U.S. may have the largest economy in the world, but in other key measures indicative of quality of life, it is far from number one. Based on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, a tool used for gauging and comparing quality of life across geographies, the United States ranks as the 17th best country to live in worldwide.

While quality of life across the U.S. as a whole trails over a dozen other nations, there are parts of the country that, if analyzed through the lens of the HDI, would rank at or near the top of the list of the best places to live globally.

Inspired by the HDI, 24/7 Wall St. created an index consisting of three measures — life expectancy at birth, bachelor’s degree attainment, and poverty rate — to identify the best counties to live in in every state.

Teton County, located in southeastern Idaho along the Wyoming border, ranks as the best county to live in in the state. Idaho is one of the fastest growing states in the country, reporting 7.4% population growth over the last five years. In Teton County, population growth is even more rapid, as the county expanded by 11.9% over the same period.

With a local poverty rate of 4.5%, Teton County residents are less than half as likely to face serious financial hardship than the typical resident of Idaho, where the poverty rate stands at 13.1%. Life expectancy in Teton County is also 83.8 years, about four and a half years longer than the state average.

Data on bachelor’s degree attainment and poverty are from the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Data on average life expectancy at birth came from the 2021 County Health Rankings, a joint program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, and are based on mortality data from the years 2017 to 2019. Supplemental data on population and income are from the ACS, and unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted for May 2021 and are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only independent cities, counties, and county equivalents with populations of 10,000 or more were considered.

PlacePoverty rate (%)Adults with a bachelor’s degree (%)Life expectancy at birth (years)Alabama: Shelby County7.542.980.7Alaska: Juneau City and Borough7.738.481.1Arizona: Maricopa County13.832.780.5Arkansas: Benton County9.433.479.9California: Marin County7.259.585.4Colorado: Pitkin County6.760.894.4Connecticut: Fairfield County8.947.983.0Delaware: New Castle County11.436.278.4Florida: St. Johns County8.244.781.9Georgia: Forsyth County5.753.182.3Hawaii: Honolulu County8.335.082.5Idaho: Teton County4.541.083.8Illinois: DuPage County6.449.482.5Indiana: Hamilton County4.659.382.0Iowa: Dallas County5.250.482.3Kansas: Johnson County5.456.081.7Kentucky: Oldham County5.942.479.8Louisiana: St. Tammany Parish11.533.878.3Maine: Cumberland County9.047.680.2Maryland: Howard County5.062.683.2Massachusetts: Middlesex County7.456.382.4Michigan: Leelanau County6.144.782.7Minnesota: Carver County4.148.983.3Mississippi: Madison County9.648.476.5Missouri: Platte County6.243.180.2Montana: Gallatin County11.350.182.6Nebraska: Sarpy County5.939.881.3Nevada: Douglas County8.729.480.7New Hampshire: Rockingham County4.641.480.9New Jersey: Hunterdon County4.552.783.5New Mexico: Los Alamos County4.467.483.8New York: New York County15.861.385.3North Carolina: Orange County13.759.782.3North Dakota: Burleigh County8.135.881.6Ohio: Delaware County4.854.382.3Oklahoma: Cleveland County12.033.478.7Oregon: Washington County8.944.482.7Pennsylvania: Chester County6.453.081.4Rhode Island: Bristol County7.549.081.5South Carolina: Beaufort County10.241.282.9South Dakota: Lincoln County4.137.684.3Tennessee: Williamson County4.459.881.7Texas: Collin County6.352.382.7Utah: Summit County5.655.085.1Vermont: Chittenden County12.151.381.8Virginia: Arlington County6.875.385.9Washington: San Juan County10.249.886.2West Virginia: Jefferson County9.731.878.0Wisconsin: Ozaukee County5.349.082.1Wyoming: Teton County6.157.087.5

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