Camas County, ID
Property Data

Camas County, Idaho: Where the Numbers Defy Explanation

There are small counties, and then there is Camas County — a high desert expanse in south-central Idaho where roughly 1,155 people are spread across more than 1,000 square miles at a density of just one person per square mile. That's not a rounding error. It's a landscape. And the data that emerges from this near-empty terrain reads less like a housing market report and more like a puzzle wrapped in sagebrush.

Start with the number that will make any economist blink twice: a mean household income of $26.8 million. The county's median household income sits at a modest $55,536 — below the national benchmark of $75,149 — which means somewhere in those 339 households, there is extreme wealth so concentrated it obliterates the average. Camas County has no incorporated cities of significant size; Fairfield, the county seat, has a few hundred residents. Yet the Gini coefficient of 0.429 — a measure of income inequality — places this tiny community at a level of inequality more commonly associated with mid-size metros. The ultra-wealthy and the working ranch family appear to coexist here in extraordinary statistical tension.

A Housing Market Built on Vacancy

Perhaps the most arresting data point is the 51.2% vacancy rate — more than half of the county's 694 housing units sit unoccupied at any given time. This isn't decay. This is the seasonal and recreational reality of Idaho's mountain west. Camas County borders the Sawtooth National Forest and sits near Sun Valley's shadow; second homes, hunting cabins, and seasonal ranching properties dominate the housing stock in ways that conventional market metrics simply weren't designed to capture. The $248,900 median home value — well below the national median of $320,000 — likely reflects the working-ranch and modest Fairfield-area housing, not the high-end retreats that inflate the mean income so dramatically.

With a 75.8% homeownership rate among occupied units and 87.6% single-family homes, this is an owner-occupant community at its core. The 339 households that actually live here year-round are overwhelmingly stable, rooted, and invested.

Key Statistics

The Social Fabric of an Empty County

A population where 33.2% are under 18 and the median age is just 34.9 suggests a surprisingly young, family-oriented community — larger households averaging 3.41 people reinforce this. Yet the 0.0% unemployment rate and 0.0% public assistance usage paint a picture of self-sufficiency that feels almost deliberately off-grid. The 14.4% uninsured rate — elevated by any measure — and the near-absence of public or private insurance coverage suggests a population that either can't access coverage or has chosen not to pursue it. That's a quiet vulnerability in an otherwise resilient community.

The 25.3% limited English rate signals a significant agricultural labor presence — consistent with Idaho's broader reliance on seasonal farm workers in its rural counties.

What makes Camas County unique? It may be one of the few places in America where the mean income suggests extraordinary wealth while the infrastructure, services, and population density suggest something far more elemental — a place where land is everything, people are few, and the data tells two completely different stories at once.

Why is the vacancy rate so high in Camas County? Most of the county's housing stock consists of seasonal cabins, hunting properties, and second homes tied to Idaho's outdoor recreation economy. Only a fraction of existing units are primary residences.

Is Camas County affordable? For full-time residents, yes — home values are well below national norms and rent burden is modest. But the housing market here isn't really oriented toward buyers looking to relocate; it serves an existing community and a floating population of seasonal visitors.