Lava Hot Springs, ID population, income and ZIP codes

Lava Hot Springs city is a very small community in Idaho, with 251 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #187 of 236 ranked by population — larger than 20% of them. The median age here is 51.5 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Lava Hot Springs city earn a median of $36,364 a year, 53.7% below the national figure of $78,538 and 43% below the $63,864 median for the 100 Idaho cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 9.4% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Lava Hot Springs city is valued at $241,100, 20.5% below the national figure and 11% below the $271,500 peer median, while median gross rent runs $843 a month, 40% below the national figure, or roughly $10,116 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 27.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.6×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 58.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 6.6× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. A median age of 51.5 puts Lava Hot Springs city well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.