A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Stites$800/mo

Typical home $145K (Census) · tax rate 0.31% · or rent about $731/mo · Housing →

Bliss$2,760/mo

Typical home $507K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.24% · Housing →

The difference: $1,960 a month, about $23,600 a year, between Bliss and Stites.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Grades and rankings, side by side

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Idaho ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Schools

–StitesNot graded C−BlissBetter than 16% of districts in the state

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

StitesBliss

Snow a year11″—

January low26°F —

July high90°F —

Growing season (days)163d —

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)89th 60th

Outdoors & history

StitesBliss

Trails—1 mi

Conserved land—33.4%

Archive photos5 3

Community

StitesBliss

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

225 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

StitesID BlissID

Stites ↔ Bliss225 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Idaho average

StitesBliss

People

Population 165Lowest 229Highest

Median age 45.5±22Lowest 22% above ID 48.4±12.1Highest 30% above ID

Bliss and Stites are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 22.4%±11.1Highest ID: 24.1% 21.4%±16.5Lowest ID: 24.1%

Stites and Bliss are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 32.7%±10.7Highest ID: 17% 21.4%±15.8Lowest ID: 17%

Stites and Bliss are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 6.3%Lowest ID: 31.8% 6.7%Highest ID: 31.8%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 1.8%±2.1Highest ID: 6.3% 0%±7.4Lowest ID: 6.3%

Stites and Bliss are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $28,438±$20kLowest 63% below ID $65,500±$31kHighest 16% below ID

Bliss and Stites are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $145,000±$45kHighest 65% below ID $118,800±$89kLowest 72% below ID

Stites and Bliss are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Rentmedian gross, monthly $731±$61 41% below ID —

Property taxmedian, yearly $455Highest 78% below ID $288Lowest 86% below ID

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 77.8%±100Highest ID: 46.9% 30%±93.8Lowest ID: 46.9%

Stites and Bliss are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 32.1%Highest ID: 10.6% 10.5%Lowest ID: 10.6%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 87.3%Highest ID: 72.1% 81.1%Lowest ID: 72.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1970Lowest 21 yrs older than ID 1973Highest 18 yrs older than ID

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 22 minLowest 4% above ID 34 minHighest 58% above ID

Work from home 2.3%±4.4Highest ID: 13.3% 0%±12.8Lowest ID: 13.3%

Stites and Bliss are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 0%Lowest 1.9%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 17.8 miLowest 24.8 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.40Lowest 1.13Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Cottonwood (18%)Gooding (19%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in BlissFew work in Stites

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 0%Lowest 33.4%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 0.0 miLowest 1.3 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.0 miLowest 1.9 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 0 0

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 158Highest 45.0Lowest

Idaho average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Stites neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Stites’s Town Square.

Bliss neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Bliss’s Town Square.

Add a town

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Towns like Stites

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Bovill107 people · $158K homes

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Bancroft250 people · $164K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Stites vs Bliss

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they differ most

A typical home costs $1,960 more a month in Bliss

Grades and rankings, side by side

What daily life feels like in each

225 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Stites and Bliss

Towns like Stites

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