When you think of growth in Idaho, what city comes to mind? For most of us, the answer is almost always Boise. This is where most news articles don't paint a clear picture. Often the growth we think is happening in Boise, is actually occuring in it's surrounding cities...

While Boise is indeed growing quickly, a lot Treasure Valley's most impressive stats come from nearby. Don't misunderstand, Boise is a great place to invest. But so are other places in the Boise-Metro.

For those looking to narrow down the BEST locations to invest, it's important to distinguish what is actually going on in Boise vs the Boise-Metro as a whole.

Two Idaho Cities Growing Faster than Boise

As an investor, you've probably kept an eye on Idaho -- it is, after all, one of the fastest-growing states in the country. In particular, the Boise-Metro has continued to be one of the fastest-growing metros in the U.S.

But which cities within Treasure Valley are growing the fastest?

Our friends over at WalletHub have released new findings showing that two other cities have rivaled Boise in regards to growth.

According to their rankings, both Meridian and Nampa have ranked ahead of Boise. As we've written in past articles, this is primarily thanks to growing populations and rising incomes... among other things.

Meridian ranked as the seventh-fastest growing city in the country, with a total score of 73.76 out of 100 possible points (WalletHub).

"The only places ranked higher were Lehigh Acres, Florida; Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; Bend, Oregon; Enterprise, Nevada; Frisco, Texas; and Fort Myers, Florida."

Nampa ranked as the country's No. 46 fastest-growing city. While Boise trailed behind at No. 174 with 49.78 points (Still fantastic!).

When ranked with other midsize cities, Meridian moved up to the No. 4 ranking, while Boise sat at No. 95. "Against other small cities, Nampa ranked No. 12."

Average Growth Rate

WalletHub's study analyzed the average annual population growth in each city between 2012 and 2018. Meridian had the No. 1 overall ranking out of 515 cities analyzed, with an average growth rate of 4.85%

Nampa (2.31% growth rate) was No. 42, and Boise (1.26% growth rate) was No. 155.

Other Stats From the Study:

• Meridian again took first place for average annual growth in the working-age population (6.77%) and average annual growth in the number of the employed civilian population (5.57%)

• WalletHub assigned all three Treasure Valley cities the same score for several metrics: growth in regional GDP per capita, increase in a number of businesses, increase in a number of startups, increase in venture capital investment amount, and growth in the number of technology companies.

• Treasure Valley saw a 2.3% growth rate in the number of businesses, giving the cities a No. 63 ranking, and a massive 763% increase in venture investment, earning the No. 35 spot.

• Nampa's boom in its full-time employment earned it the No. 9 slot in the “full-time to part-time employment” category, and its employment growth, in general, ranked No. 27 overall.

Conclusion

We've been keeping tabs on both Meridian and Nampa for a while now. Understanding their potential, we've already built investment properties in both cities. We've also researched and written a free multifamily market report for those of you looking for more information. You can find a copy over at fig.us/boise-market-report