Challis vs Mackay

A side-by-side comparison of Challis and Mackay: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Challis has the higher population (794 vs 719 in Mackay). Challis has the higher median household income ($50,034 vs $41,474 in Mackay). Mackay has the higher median home value ($187,500 vs $168,300 in Challis).

Population, income & housing

	Challis	Mackay
Population	794	719
Median age	44.9 yrs	61.1 yrs
Median household income	$50,034	$41,474
Median home value	$168,300	$187,500
Median gross rent	$635	$631
Housing units	585	431
Homeownership rate	56.2%	75.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.9%	20.1%
Unemployment rate	1.4%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Challis	Mackay
Population	758 → 794 (+4.7%)	467 → 719 (+54.0%)
Median household income	$25,956 → $50,034 (+92.8%)	$30,795 → $41,474 (+34.7%)
Median home value	$139,200 → $168,300 (+20.9%)	$145,100 → $187,500 (+29.2%)
Median gross rent	$529 → $635 (+20.0%)	$620 → $631 (+1.8%)

Challis

Population

758794

Median household income

$25,956$50,034

Median home value

$139,200$168,300

Median gross rent

$529$635

Mackay

Population

467719

Median household income

$30,795$41,474

Median home value

$145,100$187,500

Median gross rent

$620$631

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Challis	Mackay
Under 5	4.0%	7.5%
5 to 17	14.1%	7.5%
18 to 24	8.3%	6.8%
25 to 34	9.4%	0.0%
35 to 44	14.5%	14.2%
45 to 54	19.6%	10.4%
55 to 64	12.6%	20.7%
65 to 74	14.9%	16.6%
75 and over	2.5%	16.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Challis	Mackay
White (non-Hispanic)	80.9%	89.2%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	2.6%	0.0%
Two or more races	6.3%	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	8.1%	8.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Challis	Mackay
No high school diploma	9.2%	8.4%
High school graduate	25.3%	49.3%
Some college or associate's	42.5%	22.2%
Bachelor's degree	20.9%	14.2%
Graduate or professional degree	2.1%	5.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Challis	Mackay
Drove alone	46.4%	74.7%
Carpooled	35.3%	0.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	3.9%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	14.5%	3.9%
Other means	0.0%	21.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Challis	Mackay
1-unit, detached	53.8%	74.7%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	9.6%	5.1%
5 to 19 units	6.7%	5.8%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	29.9%	14.4%

Poverty & households

	Challis	Mackay
Poverty rate	15.2%	17.8%
Average household size	1.97	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	11	15
Median year structure built	1981	1976