Ponderay vs Priest River

A side-by-side comparison of Ponderay and Priest River: population, income, housing, and more.

Ponderay and Priest River are places in Idaho. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Priest River has the higher population (2,058 vs 1,456 in Ponderay). Priest River has the higher median household income ($57,712 vs $50,119 in Ponderay). Ponderay has the higher median home value ($391,700 vs $271,500 in Priest River).

Population, income & housing

	Ponderay	Priest River
Population	1,456	2,058
Median age	39.9 yrs	43.3 yrs
Median household income	$50,119	$57,712
Median home value	$391,700	$271,500
Median gross rent	$988	$748
Housing units	699	920
Homeownership rate	30.7%	72.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.4%	9.8%
Unemployment rate	5.8%	0.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ponderay	Priest River
Population	1,098 → 1,456 (+32.6%)	1,923 → 2,058 (+7.0%)
Median household income	$37,155 → $50,119 (+34.9%)	$38,125 → $57,712 (+51.4%)
Median home value	$161,800 → $391,700 (+142.1%)	$153,300 → $271,500 (+77.1%)
Median gross rent	$771 → $988 (+28.1%)	$657 → $748 (+13.9%)

Ponderay

Population

1,0981,456

Median household income

$37,155$50,119

Median home value

$161,800$391,700

Median gross rent

$771$988

Priest River

Population

1,9232,058

Median household income

$38,125$57,712

Median home value

$153,300$271,500

Median gross rent

$657$748

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ponderay	Priest River
Under 5	4.4%	3.5%
5 to 17	15.7%	18.8%
18 to 24	10.3%	8.4%
25 to 34	13.3%	8.1%
35 to 44	12.9%	13.8%
45 to 54	7.7%	12.0%
55 to 64	16.7%	11.2%
65 to 74	13.0%	16.1%
75 and over	6.0%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ponderay	Priest River
White (non-Hispanic)	80.8%	86.7%
Black or African American	6.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.3%
Asian	1.4%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.6%	9.1%
Hispanic or Latino	6.2%	3.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ponderay	Priest River
No high school diploma	9.2%	10.2%
High school graduate	45.6%	50.7%
Some college or associate's	35.9%	29.3%
Bachelor's degree	6.8%	5.7%
Graduate or professional degree	2.6%	4.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ponderay	Priest River
Drove alone	65.0%	78.1%
Carpooled	11.8%	7.9%
Public transit	6.2%	1.6%
Walked	11.8%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.6%	2.6%
Worked from home	4.5%	7.2%
Other means	0.0%	1.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ponderay	Priest River
1-unit, detached	29.0%	68.0%
1-unit, attached	9.3%	0.3%
2 to 4 units	9.4%	6.3%
5 to 19 units	25.5%	7.4%
20 or more units	5.2%	1.4%
Mobile home & other	21.6%	16.5%

Poverty & households

	Ponderay	Priest River
Poverty rate	19.2%	7.4%
Average household size	2.47	2.51
Mean commute (minutes)	10	26
Median year structure built	1993	1973