If you’ve been talking with friends and neighbors about the best places to retire, you probably have heard Boise, Idaho come up in conversation more than once, and you may be wondering what makes retiring in Boise, Idaho so great. I’m going to go over several reasons that the Boise area may be the retirement answer you are looking for and talk about the pros and cons of choosing Boise, Idaho as your future retirement destination.
I know a lot of consideration goes into choosing the best place for you to retire, and there are many factors to consider, so let’s get straight to it. And even if you’re not retiring soon, but considering moving to Boise, keep reading as this info will help you, too.
The number one concern for retirees is the overall cost of living, and that is one of the number one reasons people choose to retire in Boise, Idaho. I’ll talk more about types of housing in a minute, but the cost of housing, although not cheap, is more affordable than most western states.
Average Cost of a Home
The average cost of a house in the Boise area, as of October 2022, is about $500,000-$550,000 for an 1800 sf single level, single family home, and those prices are currently dropping. Seniors do not get a discount on property taxes here, unless under very specific circumstances, but property taxes on a $550,000 home would average around $4,000 a year, or less than 1% of the assessed value, and could be quite a bit lower in some areas of the valley. And your homeowner’s insurance on this average house should be less than $1000/year.
Utilities
Utilities are quite affordable here, on that same average home we were talking about, let’s say an 1800 sf single level built in 2010, you could expect your electric bill to be no more than $160/month on the hottest months, and your gas bill to be no more than $160/month on your coldest months, and both would be closer to $40/month when they aren’t getting used at peak capacity.
Water
Water is quite affordable as well, as most of our homes have irrigation water for the landscape system. That is often included in the HOA and, if not, it can be as low as $50-$100 to water your yard for the entire watering season.
Taxes
What about taxes? Social Security retirement benefits are not taxed at the state level in Idaho, but other retirement income, like certain investment accounts, would be taxed at the normal income tax rate, which is up to 6%. There is also no gift, inheritance, or estate tax in Idaho. But we do pay a 6% sales tax on purchases and most food items at the grocery store.
So where will you live if you are retiring in Boise, Idaho?
I will be making another post soon that will specifically be about areas to consider when retiring in Boise, Idaho, and you can check out my playlist to see tours of the cities in the Boise area, but let’s talk about housing in general.
The pros to retirement housing in the Boise area are that there are many communities that offer single level living, close to amenities, close to medical facilities, and are very safe. There are communities with golfing, communities with community centers, age-in-place communities, and communities that offer RV garages. But the con to the Boise area, as of today, is that we are lacking in 55 and over communities that are truly master planned and offer recreation and socializing opportunities. We do have 55 and over communities, and there are a few that do offer things like maybe a clubhouse and a pool, but due to demand of people moving here to retire, we are currently lacking those 55 and over communities that truly offer all the amenities some people are used to in places like California and Arizona. But stay tuned for a future video that I will make and take you on tours of our 55 and over communities, and other areas that make for great places to retire, so make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss it when it comes out.
Weather
Okay, a big factor to consider when thinking about where to retire is the weather, right?? And Boise is in Idaho so we must get tons of snow, right? Wrong! We are known as the banana belt of Idaho, and while we can’t actually grow bananas here, we get much less snow than you may think. I made a video all about the weather in Boise that you can check out here, but Boise does have a pretty moderate climate for retirees.
We have 4 true seasons. In the fall, it is absolutely gorgeous with the trees changing color and the sky clear blue. It is possible for us to get several inches of snow in the winter, but normally, if it snows, we get a tiny bit of overnight snow that melts the next day. Most lawn care companies also provide snow removal, if it is needed, and there are a few communities that include snow removal, but Boise rarely gets snow that sticks around for more than a few days, and because it melts off the roads quickly, you usually don’t have to hang out at home more than a day or two if you are concerned about driving in the snow. We don’t get ice storms or too much wind, we don’t have tornadoes or hurricanes. But we do have hot summers that can get smokey from forest fires and of course we have very lovely springs. Boise is a dry, high desert climate with very little humidity and, for anyone with breathing concerns, we are at just under 3000 feet elevation.
And if you haven’t heard of a snowbird, well, Boise has many of those, people who live in the Boise area during the end of spring through summer and early fall, and then live in places like Arizona for the winter. But the majority of retirees here are okay with our winters and, of course, you can always travel to warmer places for a month or two if needed.
Medical Access
And what about medical access? Boise has a great medical system with the major hospitals and doctors’ groups being Saint Al’s or Saint Luke’s. You can watch my video all about the healthcare here. But the medical care here is excellent, and there are many, many specialists as well. We’ve got a VA hospital in downtown Boise and a smaller VA medical center in Caldwell. The biggest con to the medical system here, which I am hearing is becoming the same for many cities in the US, is the time it takes to get into a new doctor. With all of the people who have moved here, and all of the turmoil in medical staffing in the last couple of years, the Boise area is short staffed. So as soon as you know you are moving here, begin to make appointments to get in with new doctors as the wait can be months to see a new doctor. Once you are in though, the care is typically very good.
Safety
And you want to live where it is safe when you retire. The Boise area is considered one of the safest places to live in the country, and for a while there, it was the 8th safest city to live in the world, one report said. Of course, it’s not utopia, and there is crime in the valley, but I can tell you, the safety and cleanliness here is probably one of my top favorite reasons for living in the Boise area.
Transportation
Okay two more things… transportation… one big pro and one big con. First, the big pro.. Boise has a fantastic airport that is super accessible, easy to get in and out of, and has many, many non-stop flights to major cities all over the country. My grandbaby lives in southern California, and you can bet I’m on that plane to Orange County as often as I can get away, and it’s a short flight, less than 2 hours if you can get a direct flight. So that is a big pro for retiring in Boise, Idaho…how great the airport is.
Now the big con in transportation is that if you need public transportation, we are severely lacking in a good public transportation system. Mostly because we have a relatively small population compared to the cities with great public transportation, so there hasn’t been a huge need for it. But the need is growing. We have public bussing, but really only in Boise. It is very limited, or non-existent, in many of the other towns in the valley. Some areas, like Eagle, do have some type of senior service buses that will take people to the grocery store on certain days and things like that.
Activities
And last but not least – what will you do for fun if you retire in Boise? I mean, what won’t you do for fun? This is probably another top reason people love retiring in Boise, Idaho… there are so many great activities that are so accessible. There are golf courses in every town, wineries to visit, lovely restaurants all around, there’s the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the botanical gardens, the art museums, the foothills walking trails, the river greenbelt for bike rides, skiing of all kinds, boating. There’s the ballet, the musicals, the orchestras, the opera, mountain lakes, great parks and rec classes, art festivals, hot air balloon festivals, holiday festivals, shopping in the Village, 3 Costco’s in the valley, speedways, shooting ranges, a great library system, the list goes on and on. And of course, the location of Boise makes it a great central point for leaving on RV trips to see the amazing beauty of the West, as we are only a day’s drive from so many fantastic state and national parks, from deserts, to canyons, to the mountains. (And you can actually make it to the ocean in a day from Boise, in about 9 hours, if you really want). The overall quality of life in the Boise area is great for retirees.
So, if you’d like to discuss if Boise is the place for you to buy your retirement home, contact us here, and my team and I are happy to help. You can also get a relocation guide, a quick guide to Eagle, a popular retirement area in the valley, and make sure to check out my other videos with tours of the areas of the valley.
