The 15 California Cities Sending the Most People to Boise

Don’t like something happening in Boise? Blame it on someone else. In fact, we can probably predict who you will blame it on.

It’s not uncommon to scroll through your feed on Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter) and see it full of complaints about everything from traffic congestion to housing prices to road construction to how the City of Boise handled the pandemic compared to neighboring municipalities. Many of the keyboard warriors participating in those conversations are quick to blame all of Boise’s problems on people who recently relocated to Boise from California.

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There’s no denying that migration from California to Idaho is happening. The latest driver’s license migration data from the Idaho Department of Transportation shows that 17,410 people swapped their California driver’s licenses for an Idaho one in 2022. That’s down from 21,010 in 2021, but still fairly significant. In 2021, 38.2% of those former Californians got their licenses in Ada County.

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So where did they come from? The United States Census Bureau recently released its metro-to-metro migration data for 2016-2020 which ranks the metros sending the most people to certain metros across America, including Boise. If you look at the ranking of the Top 60 metros sending the most people to Boise, 15 California cities appear on the list.

We took a closer look at those cities to see why people may be choosing to leave those locations and consider Boise instead. We’re talking about factors like cost of living, weather and safety. Here’s what we found out about these cities and how they compare to Boise.

Our sources included Neighborhood Scout, which uses FBI crime data for their safety rankings, the American Census Bureau, BestPlaces.net, Niche.com, which allows residents and former residents to grade their communities and Realtor.com. The housing price data reflects the current available inventory of homes on September 11, 2023. Crime Index means the city is safer than (x)% of cities in America.

Take a Look at the 15 California Cities Sending the Most People to Boise

Our sources include Neighborhood Scout, which uses FBI crime data or their safety rankings, the American Census Bureau, BestPlaces.net, Niche.com, which allows current and former residents to grade their state/city/town and Realtor.com. Crime Index means the city is safer than (X)% of cities in America. Home prices reflect the current availability in September 2023.

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This list is meant to be humorous with just a dash of truth thrown in for spice. It is not intended for keyboard warriors without a sense of humor.