26 Interesting & Questionable Idaho National Rankings

After living here for nearly eight years, I'm constantly fascinated and surprised by the negative reviews Idaho receives from all kinds of kinds.

When homegrown locals who can't wait to get out of the state start to confide their Treasure Valley troubles to me, I struggle to identify with them. After moving around the world for military life, I can't imagine calling another state my home.

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When I find myself in conversations with people who only moved here for the housing market and nothing more, I'm confused by a mentality like that. As I see and experience it, the Gem State is an index of the best amenities America has to offer.

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Below are 26 Idaho rankings that nail it in some ways and completely baffle us in others. To devise the list, we pulled from Idaho's most Googled and most recent searches. In sifting through the data, it became clear that certain things just can't be measured. Okay, so they can be measured, but the extent to which the metrics are accurate or fair is debatable. What are your thoughts on the rankings? Are they accurate or questionable?

PS, if you love Missed Connections on Boise's Craigslist, we highly recommend looking up the most Googled searches in Idaho for a good laugh.

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1 || Economy: 5/50

2 || Growth: 9/50

3 || Crime: 47/50

4 || Pupil Funding: 50/50

5 || Single Mothers: 47/50

6 || Motorcycle Ownership: 11/50 

7 || Vacation Destination: 23/50

8 || Families: 34/50

9 || Minorities: 34/50

10 || Healthcare: 33/50

11 || Sexually Transmitted Diseases: 44/50

12 || Child Canal Deaths: 2/50

13 || Veterans: 3/50

14 || Gun-Friendly: 5/50

15 || Poverty: 28/50

16 || Wealth: 16/50

17 || Beauty: 16/50

18 || Cuisine: 41/50

19 || Homeless Citizens: 40/50

20 || Profanity: 8/50

21 ||  Golf: 32/50

22 || National Parks: 45/50

23 || Distracted Driving: 10/50

24 || Cleanliness/Air Quality: 11/50

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