List of counties in Idaho facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Counties of Idaho |
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| Location | State of Idaho |
| Number | 44 |
| Populations | 801 (Clark) – 524,673 (Ada) |
| Areas | 408 square miles (1,060 km2) (Payette) – 8,485 square miles (21,980 km2) (Idaho) |
| Government | County government |
| Subdivisions | cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, Indian reservations, census designated place |
Idaho is a state in the western United States. Like all U.S. states, Idaho is divided into smaller areas called counties. These counties help organize the state and provide local government services. Idaho has 44 counties, each with its own history and unique features.
Contents
How Idaho's Counties Were Formed
Idaho became a U.S. territory in March 1863. The very first county created was Owyhee County in December 1863. More counties quickly followed. Oneida County was formed in January 1864. Soon after, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Idaho, Boise, and Alturas Counties were recognized in February 1864. Kootenai and Ada Counties were created in December 1864.
Idaho's current borders were set in 1868. Lemhi County was created the next year. By 1890, when Idaho became the 43rd state, there were 18 counties. More counties were added over time. For example, Canyon, Fremont, and Bannock Counties were created. In 1895, two counties, Alturas and Logan, were combined to form Blaine County. Lincoln County was then formed from part of Blaine County.
Between 1911 and 1919, many new counties were created. This brought the total number of counties to 44, which is how many Idaho has today.
License Plate Codes
Since 1945, each Idaho county has a special code on its license plates. This code usually starts with the first letter of the county's name.
If several counties start with the same letter, a number is added before the letter. This number shows their order in an alphabetical list. For example, the four counties starting with 'L' are Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, and Lincoln. Their codes are 1L, 2L, 3L, and 4L.
Some counties are the only ones that start with their specific letter. These include Elmore, Idaho, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Valley, and Washington Counties. For these, only the letter is used as the code.
List of Idaho Counties
Here is a list of Idaho's 44 counties. It includes their county seat, when they were established, and what their name means.
| County |
FIPS code | County seat | Est. | Origin | License plate prefix | Etymology |
Population | Area | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ada County | 001 | Boise | 1864 | Boise County | 1A | Named for Ada Riggs, daughter of a member of the Idaho Territorial Legislature. | 524,673 | 1,055 sq mi (2,732 km2) |
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| Adams County | 003 | Council | 1911 | Washington County | 2A | John Adams, the second President of the United States. | 4,903 | 1,365 sq mi (3,535 km2) |
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| Bannock County | 005 | Pocatello | 1893 | Bingham County | 1B | Named for the Bannock Native American tribe. | 90,400 | 1,113 sq mi (2,883 km2) |
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| Bear Lake County | 007 | Paris | 1875 | Oneida County | 2B | Named for Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border. | 6,766 | 971 sq mi (2,515 km2) |
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| Benewah County | 009 | St. Maries | 1915 | Kootenai County | 3B | Named for Ben'wah, a chief of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. | 10,369 | 776 sq mi (2,010 km2) |
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| Bingham County | 011 | Blackfoot | 1885 | Oneida County | 4B | Named for Henry H. Bingham, a general and U.S. Congressman. | 50,395 | 2,095 sq mi (5,426 km2) |
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| Blaine County | 013 | Hailey | 1895 | Alturas and Logan Counties | 5B | Named for James G. Blaine, a former United States Secretary of State. | 25,041 | 2,645 sq mi (6,851 km2) |
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| Boise County | 015 | Idaho City | 1864 | original county | 6B | Named for the Boise River. | 8,517 | 1,902 sq mi (4,926 km2) |
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| Bonner County | 017 | Sandpoint | 1907 | Kootenai County | 7B | Named for Edwin L. Bonner, who started a ferry service on the Kootenai River. | 52,547 | 1,738 sq mi (4,501 km2) |
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| Bonneville County | 019 | Idaho Falls | 1911 | Bingham County | 8B | Named for Benjamin Bonneville, a French-born explorer of the West. | 131,366 | 1,869 sq mi (4,841 km2) |
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| Boundary County | 021 | Bonners Ferry | 1915 | Bonner County | 9B | Named because it borders Canada to the north. | 13,557 | 1,269 sq mi (3,287 km2) |
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| Butte County | 023 | Arco | 1917 | Bingham, Blaine, and Jefferson Counties | 10B | Named for the Buttes (isolated hills) rising from the Snake River Plain. | 2,758 | 2,233 sq mi (5,783 km2) |
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| Camas County | 025 | Fairfield | 1917 | Blaine County | 1C | Named for Camassia, a plant important for food to Native Americans and early settlers. | 1,232 | 1,077 sq mi (2,789 km2) |
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| Canyon County | 027 | Caldwell | 1892 | Ada County | 2C | Likely named for a canyon of the Boise River or the Snake River. | 257,674 | 590 sq mi (1,528 km2) |
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| Caribou County | 029 | Soda Springs | 1919 | Bannock County | 3C | Named for the Caribou Mountains. | 7,219 | 1,766 sq mi (4,574 km2) |
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| Cassia County | 031 | Burley | 1879 | Owyhee County | 4C | Named for Cassia Creek or James John Cazier, a member of the Mormon Battalion. | 25,696 | 2,567 sq mi (6,648 km2) |
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| Clark County | 033 | Dubois | 1919 | Fremont County | 5C | Named for Sam K. Clark, an early settler and Idaho Senator. | 801 | 1,765 sq mi (4,571 km2) |
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| Clearwater County | 035 | Orofino | 1911 | Nez Perce County | 6C | Named for the Clearwater River. | 9,214 | 2,462 sq mi (6,377 km2) |
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| Custer County | 037 | Challis | 1881 | Alturas and Lemhi Counties | 7C | Named for the General Custer mine, which was named after General George Armstrong Custer. | 4,523 | 4,926 sq mi (12,758 km2) |
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| Elmore County | 039 | Mountain Home | 1889 | Alturas County | E | Named for the Ida Elmore mines, known for gold and silver. | 29,724 | 3,078 sq mi (7,972 km2) |
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| Franklin County | 041 | Preston | 1913 | Oneida County | 1F | Named for Franklin D. Richards, an early leader in the LDS Church. | 15,494 | 666 sq mi (1,725 km2) |
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| Fremont County | 043 | Saint Anthony | 1893 | Bingham County | 2F | Named for John C. Frémont, an explorer of the American West. | 14,196 | 1,867 sq mi (4,836 km2) |
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| Gem County | 045 | Emmett | 1915 | Boise and Canyon Counties | 1G | Named for Idaho's nickname, "Gem State." | 21,071 | 563 sq mi (1,458 km2) |
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| Gooding County | 047 | Gooding | 1913 | Lincoln County | 2G | Named for Frank R. Gooding, a former Governor and U.S. Senator of Idaho. | 16,061 | 731 sq mi (1,893 km2) |
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| Idaho County | 049 | Grangeville | 1864 | original county | I | Named for the Columbia River steamship Idaho, launched in 1860. | 17,890 | 8,485 sq mi (21,976 km2) |
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| Jefferson County | 051 | Rigby | 1913 | Fremont County | 1J | Named for Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. | 34,198 | 1,095 sq mi (2,836 km2) |
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| Jerome County | 053 | Jerome | 1919 | Gooding and Lincoln Counties | 2J | Named for Jerome Hill, his son-in-law Jerome Kuhn, or his grandson Jerome Kuhn, Jr. | 25,479 | 600 sq mi (1,554 km2) |
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| Kootenai County | 055 | Coeur d'Alene | 1864 | Nez Perce County | K | Named for the Kootenai Native American tribe. | 185,010 | 1,245 sq mi (3,225 km2) |
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| Latah County | 057 | Moscow | 1888 | Nez Perce County | 1L | Named for Latah Creek, which means "the place of pine trees and sestle" in Nez Perce. | 41,301 | 1,077 sq mi (2,789 km2) |
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| Lemhi County | 059 | Salmon | 1869 | Idaho County | 2L | Named for Limhi, a king mentioned in the Book of Mormon. | 8,441 | 4,564 sq mi (11,821 km2) |
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| Lewis County | 061 | Nezperce | 1911 | Nez Perce County | 3L | Named for Meriwether Lewis, a leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. | 3,739 | 479 sq mi (1,241 km2) |
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| Lincoln County | 063 | Shoshone | 1895 | Blaine County | 4L | Named for Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States. | 5,450 | 1,206 sq mi (3,124 km2) |
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| Madison County | 065 | Rexburg | 1913 | Fremont County | 1M | Named for James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. | 54,547 | 472 sq mi (1,222 km2) |
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| Minidoka County | 067 | Rupert | 1913 | Lincoln County | 2M | Its name comes from Native American languages, meaning "a fountain or spring of water" or "broad expanse." | 22,480 | 760 sq mi (1,968 km2) |
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| Nez Perce County | 069 | Lewiston | 1864 | original county | N | Named for the Nez Perce, a Native American tribe. | 42,987 | 849 sq mi (2,199 km2) |
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| Oneida County | 071 | Malad City | 1864 | original county | 1O | Named for Oneida Lake in New York, where many early settlers came from. | 4,953 | 1,200 sq mi (3,108 km2) |
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| Owyhee County | 073 | Murphy | 1863 | original county | 2O | An old spelling of Hawaii. Hawaiian fur trappers explored this area in the early 1800s. | 12,722 | 7,678 sq mi (19,886 km2) |
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| Payette County | 075 | Payette | 1917 | Canyon County | 1P | Named for Francois Payette, a Canadian-born fur trader and early settler. | 27,279 | 408 sq mi (1,057 km2) |
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| Power County | 077 | American Falls | 1913 | Bingham, Blaine, and Oneida Counties | 2P | Named for the American Falls Power Plant. | 8,253 | 1,406 sq mi (3,642 km2) |
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| Shoshone County | 079 | Wallace | 1864 | original county | S | Named for the Shoshone Native American tribe. | 14,026 | 2,634 sq mi (6,822 km2) |
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| Teton County | 081 | Driggs | 1915 | Bingham, Fremont, and Madison Counties | 1T | Named for the Teton Range mountains in Wyoming. | 12,549 | 450 sq mi (1,165 km2) |
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| Twin Falls County | 083 | Twin Falls | 1907 | Cassia County | 2T | Named for the Twin Falls waterfall on the Snake River. | 95,156 | 1,925 sq mi (4,986 km2) |
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| Valley County | 085 | Cascade | 1917 | Boise and Idaho Counties | V | Named for the Long Valley located in the county. | 12,644 | 3,733 sq mi (9,668 km2) |
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| Washington County | 087 | Weiser | 1879 | Ada County | W | Named for George Washington, the first President of the United States. | 11,425 | 1,456 sq mi (3,771 km2) |
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Counties That No Longer Exist
Over time, some counties were created and then later combined or changed. Here are two counties that no longer exist in Idaho:
- Alturas County was created in 1864 and ended in 1895.
- Logan County was created in 1889 and also ended in 1895.
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Condados de Idaho para niños
