Economics

	Horseshoe Bend	Idaho	USA
Median Family Income (2011 dollars)	$44,937	$48,160	$52,954
Per capita income (2011 dollars)	$20,058	$22,938	$27,067
Median single family home cost	$121,600	$157,900	$175,100

Unemployment

 

	Horseshoe Bend	Idaho	USA
2011	13.10%	10.40%	9.10%

Taxes: http://tax.idaho.gov/answers_Sales_tax.htm
State sales tax rate: 6.0%
State income tax rate: progressive tax range from 1.6% to 7.8% based on taxable income
Boise County property tax rate: http://www.boisecounty.us/Assessor.aspx

Property tax rates for Horseshoe Bend Idaho real estate vary please contact the Boise County assessor’s office for any questions at 208-392-4415. City property taxes are assessed through the county tax system.

Cost of Living Index 2011

	Horseshoe Bend	Boise
Overall	92	104
Food	104	106
Utilities	98	100
Miscellaneous	102	100
	US Average = 100 for all indicators

Summary: The greatest index difference was noted for the cost of housing. Horseshoe Bend is a small mountain community, that once was a lumber mill town and serves currently as a recreational gateway community and as an alternative lifestyle bedroom location for the Boise market. It has a low population, minimal services, but attracts upgrade homes with very little available development land as most of the land consists of steep hill sides and federally owned forest land. The older homes built to house mill labor are small and modest with most of the new development going to upper end homes that are more expensive to build.

Data source: http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

Demographics

County: Boise

Location: Horseshoe Bend is located 19 miles north of Boise, the capital of the state of Idaho and the economic hub for the region. Horseshoe Bend is located on the banks of the Payette River and is part of the Payette River Canyon lands. Horseshoe Bend is located at the bottom of a valley in a mountainous area of steep terrain. Horseshoe Bend is the gateway to the world famous Payette River, used by advanced rafters and kayakers for whitewater adventures. Horseshoe Bend is currently the largest community in Boise County.

Elevation: 2,631 ft. (802 m.), on average, above sea level

Time Zone: Mountain Standard Time, MST, (observes Daylight Savings Time)

Phone Area Code: 208

Zip Code: 83629

Local Map: Click Here

Population of Horseshoe Bend: 800 as of 2007 within city limits, a 3.75% increase since 2000.

Year 2011 Facts:

	Horseshoe Bend	Idaho	USA
Population	762	1,571,616	307,829,557
Male/female:	51.96%/48.04%	50.31%/49.69%	49.31%/50.69%
Median age:	39.4	34.7	36.6
Avg family	2.54	2.65	2.58
Own homes	60.26%	62.64%	59.9%
Rent homes	15.58%	25.47%	29.73%
Vacant homes	24.16%	11.89%	10.37%
%White	92.41%	88.38%	72.4%
%Black	0.0%	0.81%	12.6%
%Native	1.31%	1.46%	0.9%
%Asian	0.0%	1.11%	4.8%
%Islander			0.2%
%Other	6.29	8.25%	6.2%
%Hispanic	6.94	10.49%	12.5%

Schools & Higher Education

Horseshoe Bend Schools: http://www.sde.idaho.gov/Statistics/docs/District Profiles/2002-2003profiles/073.pdf

1. Horseshoe Bend School District: 208-793-2225, 398 School Dr., Horseshoe Bend, ID 83629
2. Horseshoe Bend High, Middle, Elementary, PK and Kindergarten School: 208-793-2225
3. Private schools: none listed
4. Charter schools: none listed

Links

Compare ISAT scores for all Idaho Schools: http://www.greatschools.net/test/landing.page?state=ID&tid=76

Compare NAEP scores for Idaho Schools versus national: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/

Education Nation Scorecard for Schools: http://nbcscorecard.greatschools.org/?s_cid=20100928weeklysend

Compare State and Community Report Card: http://www.sde.idaho.gov/ipd/reportcard/SchoolReportCard.asp

Cost per student, grades 1-12, and teacher/student ratio comparison to US average.

	Idaho	USA
$per student	$3,681	$5,678
teacher ratio	1 to 14	1 to 15
%High school grad	81.50%	84.72%
%4 year college grad	10.0%	17.42%

Higher Education

None within Horseshoe Bend City limits. However, in the greater Boise Area are these Colleges and Universities:

1. Maranatha Bible College: 208-846-9403
2. Northwest Lineman College: 208-888-4817
3. University of Phoenix: 208-888-1505
4. Boise State University: 208-426-1000
5. College of Western Idaho–Nampa: 208-562-3000
6. Apollo College: 877-205-1458
7. ITT Technical Institute-Boise: 208-322-8844
8. Milan Institute-Boise: 208-672-9500
9. Scot Lewis Schools-Boise: 208-375-0190
10. Brown Mackie College-Boise: 208-321-8800
11. Stevens-Henager College-Boise: 208-345-0700
12. Boise Bible College: 208-376-7731

Local History

Horseshoe Bend's history is part of the overall history of Boise County and Southwest Idaho. The Lewis and Clark Expedition came through the Boise area in about 1805 following the Snake River, the fur trappers followed shortly after and traveled up the various rivers flowing into the larger valley, including the Payette River. Most of the mountain sections of the Payette River were too swift to accommodate the beaver populations that the fur trappers were seeking to harvest. From about 1845-1862 the Boise Valley received about 250,000 settlers passing through on the Oregon Trail on their way to the Oregon Country to the west. Very few stopped in the lower valley and none in the mountain regions. In 1862 gold was discovered in the mountains above Boise and the whole area sprang to life. The minors used the river valleys, coming out of the mountains, as the natural routes to exact the valuable ore. Early on, Horseshoe Bend, named because its location on a big bend in the Payette River, became a staging area for miners and those that supplied miners, going further up into the mountains. In 1863, Idaho was made a territory, primarily because of its mineral wealth and the Union's need for the valuable ore during the civil war. Railroad tracks were later extended up to Horseshoe Bend after it came into the lower valley in the 1880's. After the mines played out in the early 1900's and with most of the infrastructure in place, the timber industry entered its boom period. At that time Horseshoe bend, because of it location near the timber and being on the river, which was used to transport timber out of the mountains and having railroad connectivity, became a lumber town with a large mill. This phase of the community lasted until 1998 when Boise Cascade, the town's primary employer, closed its plant. This had a dramatic effect on people living there and on the tax base that supported the school.

At the same time, Boise was entering a boom period, with a high demand for labor. The result was a displacement of the original population toward Boise and the realization for the rest, that it was an alternative bedroom support town for the Boise market. The net result was an actual increase in population occurring since the mill closing. Today Horseshoe bend is a gateway community for white water adventure and other recreational activities in the mountains above Boise. It has also become a unique, bedroom community, for those seeking an alternative lifestyle of living in the mountains but using the Boise market for employment. This category has attracted top end homes into the hills above the community.

Horseshoe Bend is part of the greater Boise economic region of Southwest Idaho, referred to as the "Treasure Valley" due to its agriculturally based wealth, made possible by irrigation and mild climate. Boise is the economic and political hub of this region being the capital of the state, the largest city in the state and the primary location for non- agriculturally based jobs in the region. Recent growth has come mainly through the introduction of clean industries, such as Hewlett Packard and Micron Technologies, in the last 20 years. Horseshoe Bend is part of the Boise Metro area that now has the greatest concentration of people between Salt Lake City Utah and Portland Oregon at about 588,000. Boise and the surrounding areas have also become a hub for transportation and storage, higher education, communication call centers, medical services and most other major demographic factors that allow clean and sustained growth.

Whatever your reasons for coming to Horseshoe Bend, it can be considered a good choice and one of the positive puzzle pieces that make up the "Treasure Valley" whose real treasure has always been its people. Trust the experts at Stewart Realty, LLC to help you find your own piece of Horseshoe Bend Idaho real estate.

Still unsure about where you want to move? Keep reading about Horseshoe Bend Idaho or check out other city pages to find the area of the Treasure Valley that best fits your needs. This site also has up to date information from the Boise MLS on available homes in the area so you can find the perfect home.

Climate

Horseshoe Bend is part of a narrow mountain river valley that connects to the Snake River Valley which, in turn, runs across most of southern Idaho at a relatively low elevation. The Snake River Valley is part of a high desert area of low precipitation in the valleys and high rates of sunshine. Most snow fall occurs in the surrounding mountain ranges from November to February which fills the rivers, creeks and streams that run to the valley in the spring time as it melts. Horseshoe Bend is most similar to the mountain climate that receives a high snow fall and above average rain fall as compared to the Snake River Valley Plain to the south.

Horseshoe Bend's climate is warm during summer when day time temperatures tend to be in the 80's and 90's and cold during winter when temperatures tend to be in the 30's. The cold months are December through February and the warmest months July and August. Temperature shifts from day to night can be extreme primarily during the hottest summer days that cool off after sunset. Being in the shadow of the steep mountains surrounding Horseshoe Bend, sunlight is more limited and temperature extremes greater than in the larger valley area to the south. This is a full four season location with a longer cold season and shorter summer season than Boise. The annual average precipitation at Horseshoe Bend is 13.0 inches. Snowfall is at 9.0 inches annually. Rainfall is distributed evenly throughout the year but on average is wetter during the spring and fall seasons. There are on average 210 sunny days per year, similar to the desert area, but which is marginalized by the early and late shadowing of the location by the surrounding mountains.

Local Media

There over twenty AM and FM radio stations located in the Boise Valley that reaches the lower valley that includes multiple NPR stations. All types of radio, TV and wireless telephone communication is more limited in this narrow mountain valley and should be verified by the individual service providers.

Airports

The largest airport, the Boise Regional airport, is about 25 miles southwest and is the regional hub for air travel. There is (1) small private airport and (1) heliport listed for Horseshoe Bend.
Boise: Website »
Loomis Airport: Website »
Horseshoe Bend Heliport: Website »