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Glenns Ferry, Idaho

Glenns Ferry is a small town of about 1,300 people in Elmore County, Idaho. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Salt Lake City, is about 230 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,256
down 1.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$197,900
Elmore County prices up 13% since 2022
Household income
$51,840
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Idaho
91.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
23 miles
Mountain Home, ID
To Salt Lake City
230 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.1% below the U.S. average in the parts of Idaho outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Glenns Ferry itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySt. Luke's Elmore Medical Center in Mountain Home, about 23 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySalt Lake City is about 230 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Glenns Ferry meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$197,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 13%Elmore County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$646 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$51,840U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,489 a yearIdaho: $2,038
Homes built before 1940
46%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
91.9U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Idaho outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 13% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Idaho outside metro areas, not Glenns Ferry alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,2562020: 1,280
Median age
43.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
11%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%
College students
11%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (23%); farming, forestry and mining (11%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
23%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: St. Luke's Elmore Medical Center, Mountain Home, ID, about 23 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 5 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, Twin Falls, ID, about 50 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Glenns Ferry, run by Glenns Ferry Joint District.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Idaho's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
68%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
25°F
July average high
99°F
Days 90°F or hotter
82 a year
Nights at or below freezing
144 a year
Rain and melted snow
10.6 inches a year
Elevation
2,550 feet

Weather station: Glenns Ferry (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: St. Luke's Elmore Medical Center, Twin Falls, Salt Lake City.

Elmore County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument20 miles
  • Minidoka National Historic Site56 miles

Read about Glenns Ferry's history on Wikipedia.

Know Glenns Ferry?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Hammett, ID (unincorporated)319 people, 8 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.