Workforce Profiles

Ada County is Idaho's largest urban and regional center of government, industry, and education.  Ada county is the most populous county in Idaho at 373,406 residents, over twice the size of the next largest county, Canyon.  It ranks 31st among Idaho's 44 counties in total area, and nearly 29.1 percent of the county is federally owned.  The population (pre-2010 census) has been rapidly growing over the past decade adding 99,081 residents since 1997.  This figures to an astounding 36.1 percent growth rate for the decade 1997 to 2007, well above the state's growth rate of 22.0 percent over the same period.  Ada County's low unemployment rate, outdoor lifestyle, and relatively mild climate, continue to attract an increasing and diverse number of people from around Idaho as well as from out of state.

The Boise metropolitan area is Idaho's larges metropolitan area with a labor force of roughly 250,000.  It has seen a major population boom over the last 10 years with many small communities such as Kuna in Ada County experiencing tripling of the population.