West Coast transplants spur growth in Idaho

By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
Posted 13m ago |

People from the West Coast are seeking more affordable living in the mountain states, helping to propel nine counties in the southern half of Idaho to grow more than 25% in the past decade.

"A lot of the growth is influx from California," says Gesine Hearn, a sociology professor at Idaho State University in Pocatello. "It's too expensive and too crowded in California."

Two counties in the Boise metropolitan area had the largest population increases, according to 2010 Census figures released Thursday: Ada County increased 30% to 392,365 people in 2010, and Canyon County grew 44% to 188,923.

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Boise's largest city, grew 11% to 205,671.

Meridian in Ada County more than doubled its population to 75,092. Nampa, 16 miles from Boise, grew 57% in the past decade to 81,557.

"People are discovering this is a wonderful place to live," Nampa Mayor Tom Dale said. "We have great recreational opportunities. Mountains, lakes, rivers and deserts — it's all here."

Many of the new residents migrated from California, Washington and Oregon, Dale said.

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"They are coming out here to find good employment opportunities and cheaper housing," he said.

Nampa has a variety of industries, including the largest sugar beet factory in the Northwest, Sorrento Cheese's largest North American plant, a university and high-tech manufacturers, Dale said. The city is an affordable option for people who work in Boise — nearly a third of city residents — Dale said.

Several counties in the state's southeast quadrant grew by more than a quarter. Madison and Jefferson Counties both grew 37%.

Hearn attributes much of that growth to Mormons, who account for about half the population in that area and who tend to have large families.

Idaho became slightly more diverse in the past decade. The population in 2000 was 88% non-Hispanic white; now it is 84%. The non-Hispanic black population, less than 1% of the state, went from 0.4% to 0.6%: 8,875 people.

Hispanics, who can be of any race, account for 11% of the population, up from 8% in 2000.

"People don't think about Idaho having any diversity at all," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. "Hispanics account for a lot of the growth in the state."

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