Californians Are Abandoning These 7 Cities to Move to an Obscure Idaho City

It’s no secret that Idaho’s population is growing. According to the latest State-to-State one year migration flow numbers from the United States Census Bureau, more than 87,000 new residents relocated to Idaho in 2022. 

We know a few things about those numbers. We know that not ALL of those people moved to the Boise area, even though Ada and Canyon Counties account for just under 40% of the state’s entire population. We also know that almost 27,000 of those new residents have moved to the Gem State from…you guessed it, California. 

READ MORE: 15 Cities Sending the Most People to Boise, Idaho

Believe it or not, Idaho is NOT California’s favorite state to move to. The same census data we mentioned earlier shows that Californians are more likely to choose Texas, Arizona, Florida, Washington State, Nevada, New York or Colorado before they look at Idaho. But once they find Idaho? They're all in. 

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Rather than head to Idaho’s “big city,” Boise, some of these folks have opted somewhere quieter and smaller. Somewhere that we doubt that many people living outside of Idaho could point to on a map. Idaho’s eighth largest city - Twin Falls, Idaho. 

Twin Falls isn’t “obscure” to other Idahoans, but we doubt that many Californians can rattle off some facts about the city without having to Google it. Twin Falls is famous for a few things: Shoshone Falls, the Perrine Bridge, Evel Knievel trying to jump the Snake River and being the childhood home of Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks. 

Why Are Some Californians Picking Twin Falls, Idaho As Their New Home?

It could be any number of factors. We dove into the data for things like cost of living, weather and safety. Twin Falls’ crime index is better than every single city on this list. So are their property crime rates.

Much to the chagrin of some Idahoans, housing costs play a major role too. The median home price in Twin Falls is ALSO lower than every city on the list. 

Which California Cities Are Sending the Most People to Twin Falls?

We took a look at the most recent “Metro Area-to-Metro Area Migration Flow” data from the census bureau to find out. We compared and contrasted the cities using data from, Neighborhood Scout, which uses FBI crime data for their safety rankings, the American Census Bureau, BestPlaces.net, and Realtor.com. The housing price data reflects the current available inventory of homes on June 10, 2024. Crime Index means the city is safer than (x)% of cities in America.