Survey highlights improvement in Idahoans’ economic situation

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Sept. 22, 2023
Media Contact: Jan.Roeser@labor.idaho.gov

The number of Idahoans with health care insurance in 2022 increased from 89.2% to 91.8% compared to pre-pandemic data for 2019, according to the recently released American Community Survey (ACS).

Nearly all of Idaho’s larger counties reported a greater share of the population covered by health care insurance, except for Bonneville County.

Health Care Insurance (2019 to 2022)

  • Ada (91.3% ↑­ 94%)
  • Bannock (90.3% ↑ 94.3%)­
  • Bonneville (91.8% ↓ 91.7%)
  • Canyon (87% ↑ 89.2%)
  • Kootenai (88.9% ↑ 92.7%)
  • Twin Falls (88.9% ↑ 91.7%)

In addition to health care coverage, the American Community Survey (ACS) provides a wide-range of statistics on 40-plus topics including estimates on poverty rates and the share of population working from home.

Poverty Rates (2019 to 2022)

  • Statewide, Idaho’s poverty rate decreased in 2022 compared to the 2019 estimates, moving from 7.4% to 6.8%, a decline of 8%.
  • Ada and Kootenai counties experienced similar improvements with Ada County’s poverty rate declining from 6.6% to 4.5% or a decline of 5%. Kootenai County’s poverty rate dropped from 8.1% to 6.4%, declining 21%.
  • The exceptions include Bannock, Bonneville, Canyon and Twin Falls counties which experienced upticks in poverty rates for all families over this same timeframe:
    • Bannock (7.9% ↑ 8.8%)
    • Bonneville (4.9% ↑ 6.3%)
    • Canyon (5.9% ↑ 7.3%)
    • Twin Falls (5.8% ↑ 9%)

Work from Home (2019 to 2022)

  • Statewide, the population share of Idahoans working from home peaked during 2021, with the number of remote working almost doubling since before the pandemic. The population share rose from a 7.4% estimated share in 2019 to 13.1% in 2022. Slight declines have been noted in the latest round of 2022 data compared to 2021.
  • Among the larger counties, Ada and Kootenai outpaced Idaho and touted the largest share of remote workers at 19.1% and 16.7%. Twin Falls had the smallest share of teleworkers at 8.2%, while Kootenai county almost tripled from its 6.3% share in 2019.
  • Half of the six larger counties experienced a year-over-year decline in its share of remote workers — Ada, Bannock and Bonneville — while the other three counties climbed precipitously.
  • Canyon saw a 28% uptick over the year (from 10% to 12.8%).
  • Kootenai grew by 23% (from 13.6% to 16.7%).
  • Twin Falls experienced 12.3% growth (from 7.3% to 8.2%).

The ACS replaced the long-form decennial census to provide more timely statistics rather than waiting every 10 years.

The survey contacts 3.5 million addresses annually covering 40+ topics, producing 1,140 detailed tables, 83 subject tables, five comparison profiles, narrative profiles, and multiple online Census tools. The ACS informs over $675 billion in federal funding.

The U.S. Census Bureau expects to release its 2018-2022 ACS five-year estimates later this year covering smaller geographies, as well as larger populations.

The data is available at data.census.gov.

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IdahoWorks and Idaho’s employment services programs are 100% funded by the U.S. Department of Labor as part of grants awarded under the Wagner-Peyser Act.