Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Southwestern Idaho job postings	Sep-25	Sep-24
Unique postings	11,448	9,198
Days posted	16	13
Number of employers	2,447	2,539
Median hourly wage	$30.34	$26.03
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	55%	50%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The urban counties carried the greatest demand for workers with 80% of the job postings or eight out of 10 in Ada County while Canyon County’s share was 16% or 1.6 job postings out of 10. Elmore, Valley and Payette counties made up the residual, each with around 1% of job postings.

• Industry diversification has been a determinant in the continued job growth across counties in southwestern Idaho. It is hard to say which drives the engine when looking at jobs and population as it depends on the industry. We do know that both job and population growth have slowed this cycle since the pandemic. The slower pace has been stabilizing for those attempting to plan for growth. The 16.5% wage increase from September 2024 is less than the previous year’s increase from September 2023 at 20.5%. There were 10% more employers that reported the wage in postings this year compared to last year. This is usually an overt effort to attract applicants.

Figure 2.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in southwestern Idaho	Postings, Sep-25	Postings, Sep-24
Registered nurses	375	259
Retail sales associates	263	284
Customer service representatives	254	183
Sales representatives	225	135
Software developers and engineers	220	200
Heavy and tractor trailer truck drivers	206	173
Business development and sales managers	164	121
Business management analysts	145	72
Retail store managers and supervisors	142	132
Project managers	127	123
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The holiday hiring season is gearing up with retail sales associates ranked second in number of job postings. This is a 7% decrease from hiring in September 2024 indicating employers are either hiring later or are forecasting a lesser need with intel usually dictating this decision.

• Among these top-listed jobs, retail associates are the only postings that show a decline. Data and organization continue to be skills that are needed across most industries. Truck drivers usually rank in the top 10 due to high turnover and the inability to attract people to the job with so much time away from home. The annual medical checkup can cause a truck driver to take time off, along with adversely affecting employment by failing a drug test or receiving a traffic violation that impacts insurance rates. The occupation is rife with hazards that can displace drivers.

Figure 3.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in southwestern Idaho	Postings, Sep-25	Postings, Sep-24
General medical and surgical hospitals	775	485
Direct health and medical insurance carriers	596	182
Engineering services	251	253
Custom computer programming services	229	107
Pharmacies and drug retailers	218	60
Limited-service restaurants	196	175
Other general government support	195	204
Supermarkets and other grocery (except convenience stores)	148	207
Administrative management and general management consulting services	131	171
Commercial banking	124	87
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The health care industry has established itself as the most recession-proof industry. However, with expected federal cuts to programs plus the escalating cost of insurance for employers and individuals, some Treasure Valley hospitals are no longer contracting with traveling health care professionals starting in 2026 due to the high costs.

Figure 4.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in southwestern Idaho	Median duration, Sep-25	Unique postings, Sep-25
Civil engineers	21 days	59
Teaching assistants, except postsecondary	20 days	55
Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel	18 days	110
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	18 days	98
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	18 days	87
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers	18 days	59
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	17 days	206
Marketing managers	17 days	147
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	17 days	144
Financial and investment analysts	17 days	107
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Civil engineers are in great demand due to the many heavy-construction infrastructure projects that are either ongoing or part of the bidding process in southwestern Idaho counties. This occupation lends itself to some entrepreneurial pursuits whereby an engineer is effectively taken out of the job market by starting a business and eventually seeking other engineers to join — compounding the demand further. Detail-oriented skills are showing up in these hardest-to-fill jobs.

Regional news

Ada County

• Idaho Gov. Brad Little and officials with the Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District broke ground on a $20 million upgrade to the Ridenbaugh Diversion Dam on the Boise River. The dam is almost 100 years old, built to divert river water to irrigate crops and landscaping across the Treasure Valley. The modernization includes installing an automated system of gates, installing a screen to keep fish from entering the canal and installing a weir to raise the water level downstream. The $20 million project was funded with $10.7 million from the Idaho Water Resource Board and a $4.5 million grant from the Bureau of Reclamation. Construction will occur during the winter months starting with the south side of the Boise River this year. After next year’s growing season, construction will begin on the north side of the Boise River completing the project in time for the 2027 irrigation season. Source: Idaho Capital Sun

• Lamb Weston, a food processor headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, with plants in Twin Falls and American Falls, opened a state-of-the-art processing plant in Mara del Plata, Argentina. It can process 200 million pounds of potatoes annually, supporting the growing Latin American market with more than 100 varieties of frozen potato products. The company is a multi-tier marketer selling to restaurants, retailers and other businesses with food service needs. The new facility created 250 direct jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs in Argentina. Source: Idaho Business Review

• The Boise School District tapped into a maintenance and operations levy in place strictly for charter districts formed before Idaho became a state (Boise was the only district in existence at the time and currently). The district will collect an additional $30.4 million from this levy that will be divided up among these emergent needs:
  • Pre-K and community schools – $4.7 million
  • Teachers’ pay – $4.5 million
  • State funding offset – $3.7 million
  • Special education – $3.6 million
  • Health insurance for employees – $3.2 million
  • Mental health support for students – $3 million
  • Facilities – $2.2 million
  • Breakfast – $1.7 million
  • Technology for one-to-one student devices – $1.4 million
  • Insurance for property and liability – $1.2 million
  • Career technical education – $821 thousand
  • Professional development – $376 thousand

Boise School District patrons will pay $330 per $100,000 of taxable value compared to last year’s levy of $280 per $100,000 of taxable value. The Legislators have placed a cap of $40 million on state funding to Boise School District, knowing this exclusive tax is available to it while the larger school district, West Ada, can collect $140 million from the attendance-based system. Source: Idaho Education News

Adams County

• The community of New Meadows hosted a grand opening at its new Youth Center. The space is repurposed as a youth center along with a day care, preschool, office, storage space, a catering kitchen and its lobby. The space was formerly a recycling center drop off site. The facility renovation cost of $1.1 million was funded with $600,000 from a Childcare Expansion Grant and other donations and grants contributing to the total cost. Source: The Star-News

Canyon County

• The College of Western Idaho (CWI) received its first National Science Foundation award in the amount of $862,435. The community college located in Nampa will develop a mining technology associate’s degree in partnership with Perpetua Resources. The mining company will provide internships and $250,000 worth of scholarships to advance the program’s enrollment. CWI’s president stated there will be three student cohorts or groups of up to 60 students over the next three years. Student outcomes include completing the Mine Safety and Health Administration certification for technician jobs in the mining industry. The school will use the funding to provide specialized training for faculty by industry experts and to create a new Mining Industry Technical Advisory Committee to guide the program’s curriculum and development. Source: Idaho Business Review

Elmore County

• Elmore County departments have moved into the newly renovated building previously occupied by Desert Sage Health Center. ARPA funds were utilized for the $2.1 million remodel. New occupants include the county’s auditor, assessor, recorder, treasurer and elections offices. Also moving into the space are staffers working in land use, the building department, veterans’ services and the Elmore Ambulance Service billing agency. In the coming year, the former U.S. Forest Service building acquired in 2017 will be repurposed to house the county’s driver’s license, department of motor vehicle and other county administrative service teams. Source: Mountain Home News

• U.S. Department of Defense officials announced Qatar military pilots will be trained at Mountain Home Air Force Base arriving around 2030 with 12 jets. The building of a Qatari Emiri Air Force Facility near the airbase in Mountain Home was also mentioned. Col. Michael Perez commented, “I think the key word here is ‘hosting. We are excited to host the Qataris and partner with them at MHAF. This is nothing new and has been in the works since 2017.” Singaporeans have trained in Mountain Home since 2009. There is an existing U.S. base in Qatar indicating the long-standing collaboration between the two countries. Source: The BBC and Idaho News 6

Valley County

• The Little Ski Hill just a few miles outside of McCall recently finished logistical improvements including a new parking lot near the lodge and added a drive lane between the parking lot and Highway 55 to enhance ingress as well as egress safety. The ski hill is a nonprofit funded by community donations, yet it offers night skiing and improved its lift operations and lighting in 2020 with an investment of $2.25 million. Source: The Star-News

• The Mountain Community Center District, a recreation district, is on the ballot for voters of districts in both Adams and Valley counties. If approved, the levy is forecast to raise $1.5 million. The project would include a fieldhouse with an elevated track and a full-size soccer or football turf field with bleachers. Repurposing of the space is built into the project, allowing all age groups to access the facility. Organizers obtained 807 signatures to put the project on the November ballot. Approval requires 50% plus one vote support to pass. The public and private partnership would rely on a 5% tax on hotel rooms and short-term rentals for part of its construction cost which is estimated at $25-$35 million. Private donations and the sale of participation certificates are expected to cover the project cost. When the room tax is added to the state tax and local option tax that is allowed in this tourism area, the needle moves to a total of 21% tax on stays in the city of McCall, a 13% rate in unincorporated Valley County and a 14% rate in Donnelly city limits. Hotel and short-term rental agencies advised this will negatively impact business volume. Should the district be approved by voters, requirements include a board of directors and the selection and acquisition of a site. Although, three sites have already been identified by organizers. Source: The Star-News

• Tamarack Resort announced it will open new ski trails on the newly burned areas within its boundaries caused by the Rock Fire. The fire started from lightning and was contained after two and a half months burning 2,800 acres. The new terrain will cover about 50 acres and will include both groomed and ungroomed runs. The resort expects the runs to be ready by Thanksgiving for skiing this season. Source: The Star-News

Regional openings

• Zao Asian Cafe, a Utah chain, opened in The Village of Meridian.

• Middleton School District hosted a ribbon cutting and open house for its new Middleton Career Campus: Construction. Site preparation started in February 2025 and much of the $2 million cost came from an Idaho Career Ready Students grant and the passage of House Bill 521 that provides school districts with funding to modernize facilities. Steel was donated by R&M Steel located in Caldwell. Classes in the new facility will include hands on construction skills in a lab, along with construction-oriented math and English. Source: Idaho Education News

• Eight Turn Crepe, a New York City-based franchise, opened in Meridian. The crepes are handmade with rice flour, then formed into cones and loaded with fresh savory or sweet ingredients. This is the first franchise in Idaho. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Barnes & Noble opened its second store in the Treasure Valley, this time in Meridian. The bookstore is in the former Gordman’s space, having spent close to half a million on renovation. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Nordstrom Rack opened a second store in the Treasure Valley, this time in Meridian. The 25,000 square foot store shares space with Barnes & Noble. The estimated renovations were $2.4 million. Source: Idaho Statesman and Nordstrom Rack Facebook page

Regional closings

• Boise’s BODO district was hit with a series of restaurant closures:
  • El Tejano Tex Mex closed after a year in business.
  • Driftwood Fry House closed its spot in the Warehouse earlier this summer.
  • Foy’s Franks, part of the Warehouse Food Hall, closed its operation.
  • P.F. Chang’s space is available for lease with the announcement that it will shutter at the end of October after 20 years as a restaurant anchor in Boise’s BODO. Source: Idaho Statesman
  • Kichii Sushi & Spirits shuttered after a year. The Japanese restaurant had backfilled the long-standing Bodovino wine bar and restaurant. Both were operated by the same proprietor who continues to run the Bodovino in the Village of Meridian. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Tree City Juice & Smoothie Cafe closed two of its three locations, one in Boise and one in Meridian. The Boise State University Student Union food court is still serving smoothies and sandwiches. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Sockeye Alehouse closed its restaurant that filled a former garden center space in Boise three years ago. The main operation continues with its combination of brewery, restaurant and bar options. It has been operating since 1996. Source: Idaho Statesman

• The Water Bear Bar closed after six years due to financial struggles. The downtown location was known for its high-end artisan cocktails, attention to detail and ambiance. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Happy Teriyaki is temporarily closed as it renovates its space in Eagle.

• The Hong Kong Restaurant of Nampa closed its doors after 63 years. Source: Idaho Statesman

• The Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Garden City is liquidating its inventory in preparation for closure by the end of the year. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Mad Swede Brewing Company closed its brewhouse and taproom as its owners retire. It most recently won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the only Idaho brewery to receive a medal this year. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Spirit Airline ended service to Boise and about a dozen other cities after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August. Source: Idaho Business Review

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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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