Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Eastern Idaho job postings	Sep-25	Sep-24
Unique postings	4,340	3,385
Days posted	25	32
Number of employers	916	552
Average hourly wage	$23.45	$30.58
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	44%	39%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• There were an estimated 4,340 deduplicated job postings in the eastern Idaho labor market for September 2025 (regional online job postings data and not necessarily job openings data). The number of postings is a 5% decrease from 4,587 the prior month and a 22% decrease year over year.

Figure 2.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in eastern Idaho	Postings, Sep-25	Postings, Sep-24
Registered nurses	334	134
Retail salespersons	139	146
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	121	145
Customer service representatives	100	60
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	70	74
Radiologic technologists and technicians	63	19
Merchandise displayers and window trimmers	61	46
Personal care aides	60	20
Laborers and freight, stock and material movers, hand	58	45
General maintenance and repair workers	54	17
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The top 10 regional occupations by unique job postings did not change over the month. Employer hiring demand, based on quantity of job postings, increased 15% for registered nurses and 8% for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. Hiring demand decreased for all other occupations.

Figure 3.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in eastern Idaho	Postings, Sep-25	Postings, Sep-24
Health care and social assistance	729	400
Retail trade	530	448
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services	480	446
Professional, scientific and technical services	352	488
Manufacturing	241	232
Educational services	231	191
Wholesale trade	214	176
Accommodation and food services	190	67
Construction	172	132
Finance and insurance	116	111
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Manufacturing replaced educational services in the top five regional industries by quantity of job postings for September. Hiring demand based on total unique job postings increased 15% over the month in the professional, scientific and technical services industry. Decreases were in all the other top industries, including 6% in accommodation and food services, 6% in retail trade, 7% in construction, 12% in wholesale trade, 13% in educational services and 15% in finance and insurance. 

Figure 4.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in eastern Idaho	Median duration, Sep-25	Unique postings, Sep-25
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	41	28
Clinical data manager	37	48
Retail salespersons	35	139
Personal care aides	33	60
Civil engineers	33	33
Tellers	33	29
General maintenance and repair workers	32	54
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	31	121
Construction laborers	31	30
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products	30	37
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Hardest-to-fill occupations in the eastern Idaho region for September, by highest median job posting duration and multiple unique job postings, included retail salespersons, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and personal care aides. Hardest-to-fill job posting challenges in September by occupational family were sales and related and management. All occupations added to the hardest-to-fill jobs list in September were new, except heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and retail salespersons.

Regional news

• The Idaho National Laboratory was awarded $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) program. The TCF program supports commercialization of grid resilience, nuclear reliability, modeling and simulation. Source: Idaho National Laboratory

• A groundbreaking was held for the new Oklo, Inc. Aurora power-generating facility at Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls. The sodium-cooled fast reactor project will supply energy to support rising AI-driven electricity demand nationwide. The power plant reportedly will create 370 jobs through the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Reactor Pilot Program. Source: Oklo Inc.

• Phased closures of campgrounds, restaurants and visitor’s centers began at Yellowstone National Park this month. Seasonal closure of park roads begins Nov. 1, while some campgrounds and restaurants have already closed for the season. The road connecting the north and northeast entrances is open year-round for activities like snowmobiling and snow coach tours. Source: U.S. National Park Service

• In the region’s largest county, Bonneville, homes are staying on the market a week longer on average than a year ago. Although mortgage interest rates are declining, this is generally not as much of a motivator for current local home buyers. Increases in home sales have not followed suit. Source: Realtor.com

• Custer County year-over-year home prices have increased by 25%. Many of these homes are listed as large land acreages, like cabins and ranches, whose demand has followed gains in popularity. Teton County has just eclipsed the $1 million mark for median home listing prices for the fourth time in five years. Source: Realtor.com

Bonneville County

• The largest fire-based emergency medical service provider in the state, Idaho Falls Fire Department, is expanding with the hiring of three new full-time firefighters. Source: Idaho Falls Fire Department

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have awarded only 290 hospitals a top five-star rating for 2025. Idaho Falls Community Hospital was among them. Ratings are based on a hospital’s performance in safe, timely and effective care, patient experience, readmission and mortality. Source: Becker’s Hospital Review

Jefferson County

• The county approved a nine-lot high industrial zoned commercial development in Rigby’s Bobcat Flats subdivision. Source: Post Register

• Over 143 acres of agricultural land near the Saddle Hill community in Rigby was changed by the county to residential development zoning. Source: Post Register

Lemhi County

• The $3.4 million Idaho Broadband Fund’s Link Up Idaho fiber project broke ground in Salmon on Highways 93 and 28. The carrier is Custer Telephone Cooperative Inc., with completion slated for mid-2026. There are 22 unserved and 337 underserved broadband internet locations in the county. Source: Link Up Idaho

Madison County

• The $3.4 million Idaho Broadband Fund’s Link Up Idaho fiber project broke ground in Madison County. The carrier is Fybercom, with completion slated for mid-2026. There are over 3,000 underserved broadband internet locations in the county. Source: Link Up Idaho

Teton County

• Teton Ridge Ranch Foundation is donating $1.5 million to the Teton County Sheriff’s Foundation to help hire deputies, provide training and improve emergency-response infrastructure deficiencies. Source: jhnewsandguide.com

Regional openings

• A new automotive shop, George’s Tire Pros, with a national network of over 800 dealers, opened in Idaho Falls.

• A new clothing retailer, Aurum Grove Boutique, opened in Idaho Falls.

• Rosenberg Automotive & Diesel opened in Ucon.

• AT2T Bin Cleaning Pros opened in St. Anthony.

• Grand Teton Energy Systems, which manufactures lithium-ion batteries, relocated its firm to Rexburg from out of state.

• BMH, Inc., a medical and manufacturing supply firm, leased 5,000 square feet of industrial space in Idaho Falls. They have four establishments located in Idaho Falls.

• Flowers Baking Co. of Utah, LLC, doing business as Papa Pita, leased 10,000 square feet of industrial space in downtown Idaho Falls.

• The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce announced ribbon cutting and/or groundbreaking ceremonies at CrossFit AMROCK, Pelios Academy, Ripp’d Nutrition, ForMotion Clinic, Stella’s Ice Cream, Primetime Trucks, Parade of Homes and Mountain View Hospital Imaging and Urology Center. These establishments either opened their doors within the past six months, moved to a new location due to expansion, have remodeled or expanded their current location.

• Rexburg Chamber of Commerce announced ground breakings and ribbon cuttings for HER Fit, Club Barber, Family First Dental, Sugar City’s “Fun Little Libraries” and United Voices Rising Thrift Shoppe.

Regional closings

• The 17th St. location of Starbucks in Idaho Falls has closed permanently.  

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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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