Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Northern Idaho job postings	Oct-25	Oct-24
Unique postings	2,184	1,868
Days posted	9	14
Number of employers	706	562
Average hourly wage	$24.06	$20.94
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	62%	50%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Job posting data shows a strengthening labor market in northern Idaho, with a 17% increase in total unique job postings and a 27% increase in the number of hiring employers. Posted wages also increased substantially year over year.

Figure 2.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in nothern Idaho	Postings, Oct-25	Postings, Oct-24
Registered nurses	122	96
Retail salespersons	75	77
Home health and personal care aides	72	49
Customer service representatives	46	28
Postal service clerks	34	2
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	34	27
Medical assistants	33	4
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	33	40
Production workers, all other	32	27
Food service managers	31	14
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The highest in-demand occupations in northern Idaho are concentrated in a few specific sectors, including health care, consumer services like retail trade, food services, transportation and warehousing.

Figure 3.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in northern Idaho	Postings, Oct-25	Postings, Oct-24
Health care and social assistance	364	342
Retail trade	224	279
Administrative and support services	163	225
Accommodation and food services	137	96
Transportation and warehousing	135	28
Professional, scientific and technical services	123	73
Manufacturing	104	107
Finance and insurance	87	68
Wholesale trade	77	60
Construction	57	41
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Top industries for labor demand remained largely consistent each year, with the same top three listing industries being health care, social assistance and retail trade.  

Figure 4.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in northern Idaho	Median duration, Oct-25	Unique postings, Oct-25
Financial managers	30	4
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers	28	4
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	26	17
Compensation and benefits managers	26	4
Sawing machine setters, operators and tenders, wood	26	4
Airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers	26	1
Family medicine physicians	25	1
Correctional officers and jailers	25	1
Physical therapist aides	23	2
Coaches and scouts	21	11
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The most difficult to fill positions in northern Idaho are relatively rare and are in low demand, with most showing fewer than 10 postings.

Regional news

• The regional housing market remains strong, according to the Coeur d’Alene Regional Realtors. Median prices on single family homes increased 4.1% year over year in October, while year to date home sales increased 3.6% in Kootenai County. Median prices and sales also increased in Shoshone County by 3.9% and 6.4% respectively. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Bonner County

• The City of Sandpoint is seeking a $130 million bond to renovate its wastewater treatment plant. According to city officials, the plant has many components that are past their usable life and require wholesale renovation. In the absence of the bond, utility rates are slated to increase by around 600% to finance the project. Work on the plant is expected to start in 2026 and will take roughly five years to complete. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Kootenai County

• A new lodging development is under construction in Athol near Silverwood Theme Park. Named BumbleBee Travel Center, the project will bring luxury cabins to provide lodging adjacent to the park. 18 cabins are currently under construction and are expected to open early in the summer of 2026, with 25 additional cabins expected in 2027. Source: Journal of Business

• The City of Post Falls received a $1.25 million Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to finance the new Quarry Sports Complex. The facility will include several multipurpose fields and amenities with the potential for additional sports courts. Construction is expected to start in the spring of 2026. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Regional openings

• Art & Fire Pottery Painting Studio (Hayden)

• La Condesa (Coeur d’Alene)

• Quirkie Dough (Coeur d’Alene)

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This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY26 as part of the Workforce Information grant (41%) and state/nonfederal funds (59%) totaling $860,595.

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