Blaine County, Idaho

Blaine County is a county in Idaho, United States, in the Wood River Valley about 85 miles
north of Twin Falls. It had a population of 24,272 at the 2020 census, an estimated 24,951 by
2024, and covers 2,661 square miles (6,890 km2) centred near 43°23′N 113°59′W.

Hailey is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 83333. The county
holds 5 incorporated cities and 11 smaller unincorporated communities, and it runs on Mountain
Time. Its FIPS code is 16013.

Towns & Villages in Blaine County

Blaine County has 16 named places on record: 5 incorporated cities and 11 unincorporated
communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place;
Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Idaho has no civil townships, so places here are grouped by incorporation status only, not by
township. Several names carried on the county’s old settlement list — Barite, Boulder,
Bullion, Cream Can Junction, Magic City and Wapi among them — are mine claims and geographic
features from historical mining-district maps rather than inhabited places, and have been dropped
from this table.

ZIP Codes

• 83333 — Hailey (also serves the airport and southern Wood River Valley ranches)
• 83340 — Ketchum (also serves the Sun Valley Resort area)
• 83313 — Bellevue
• 83320 — Carey
• 83348 — Picabo

Sun Valley and the smaller unincorporated communities — Gannett, Gimlet, Triumph, Galena,
Sawtooth City, Elkhorn Village, Cathedral Pines, Doniphan, Stanton Crossing and Tikura — use
the postal code of the nearest incorporated town rather than a code of their own.

Geography

Blaine County sits in south-central Idaho, straddling the transition from the Snake River Plain
to the Sawtooth Range. Of its 2,661 square miles, 2,644 are land and 17 are water, under 1 percent
— most of that in Magic Reservoir on the county’s southern edge. The Big Wood River runs the
length of the Wood River Valley through Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey and Bellevue, and Silver
Creek, near Picabo, is a spring-fed trout stream known nationally among fly fishers. Sawtooth
National Forest covers much of the county’s mountainous north and west.

Custer County borders Blaine to the north, Butte County lies to the northeast, Bingham County
to the east, Power County to the southeast, Cassia and Minidoka counties to the south, Lincoln
County to the south and southeast, Camas County to the west and Elmore County to the northwest.
Custer County,
Bingham County,
Power County,
Cassia County,
Minidoka County,
Lincoln County,
Camas County and
Elmore County all border Blaine
directly; Butte County has no live page on this site.

Demographics

Blaine County had a population of 24,272 at the 2020 census, up 15 percent from the prior
decade in Hailey alone, and the latest estimate puts the county near 24,951 residents. Hailey and
Ketchum are the two largest communities, together holding more than half the county’s population.
Median household income runs $92,566, well above Idaho’s statewide figure of $74,942 (2023 ACS).
Population density works out to roughly 9 people per square mile of land, low even by Idaho
standards, reflecting the county’s large share of national forest and rangeland.

Economy & Local Life

Construction employs the most workers in the county, about 2,339 people, followed by
accommodation and food services at 1,735 and retail trade at 1,578, a mix driven by resort
building and tourism rather than agriculture. Sun Valley Resort, on Bald Mountain above Ketchum,
anchors the local economy with skiing, golf and conference business; St. Luke’s Wood River in
Ketchum is the county’s main hospital. Carey, at the county’s dry southern end, stays agricultural,
running cattle and hay ground toward Craters of the Moon National Monument. The county’s biggest
annual event is Trailing of the Sheep Festival each October, when herders drive flocks down
Ketchum’s Main Street on their way to lower winter range, drawing visitors well beyond the Wood
River Valley’s own population.

History

Idaho’s territorial legislature formed Blaine County on 5 March 1895, merging Alturas and Logan
counties, and named it for James G. Blaine, a former US House Speaker and 1884 Republican
presidential nominee. A 1917 boundary change split off the western third of the county to create
Camas County, fixing Blaine’s current borders. Bellevue served briefly as county seat of the
short-lived Logan County from 1889 to 1895, and its silver mines produced more than $60 million in
silver, lead and gold between 1881 and the 1893 market crash, before a downtown fire in 1905
destroyed much of its business district.

Union Pacific Railroad chairman W. Averell Harriman opened Sun Valley Resort on 21 December
1936, installing the world’s first chairlifts on Dollar and Proctor mountains to draw passenger
traffic to the railroad. The resort closed for three years during the Second World War to serve
as a US Navy convalescent hospital, reopening to the public in December 1946. Author Ernest
Hemingway finished writing “For Whom the Bell Tolls” at the resort lodge in the fall of 1939 and
is buried in Ketchum’s cemetery.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Blaine County. Idaho State Highway 75 runs the length of the Wood
River Valley through Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley; US Route 20 crosses the county’s
southern end near Carey, connecting west toward Boise and east toward Idaho Falls.

• Twin Falls — about 85 miles south
• Boise — about 150 miles west
• Idaho Falls — about 150 miles northeast
• Pocatello — about 130 miles southeast

Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) in Hailey is the county’s commercial airport, with year-round
service to Salt Lake City and Seattle and seasonal flights to other West Coast cities and Denver.
No Amtrak route reaches Blaine County; Idaho’s only Amtrak stop is the Empire Builder station at
Sandpoint, in the state’s northern panhandle, far from the Wood River Valley.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Blaine County located?
It sits in south-central Idaho’s Wood River Valley, about 85 miles north of Twin Falls, bordered
by Custer, Butte, Bingham, Power, Cassia, Minidoka, Lincoln, Camas and Elmore counties.

What is the population of Blaine County?
24,272 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 24,951.

How big is Blaine County?
2,661 square miles (6,890 km2), of which 2,644 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Blaine County?
Hailey, the county’s largest city, is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in Blaine County?
Five incorporated cities — Hailey, Ketchum, Bellevue, Sun Valley and Carey — plus 11
unincorporated communities including Picabo, Triumph and Galena.

What ZIP codes does Blaine County use?
83333 for Hailey, 83340 for Ketchum, 83313 for Bellevue, 83320 for Carey and 83348 for Picabo.

What is Blaine County known for?
Sun Valley Resort, the country’s first destination ski resort, opened in 1936 with the world’s
first chairlifts, and the annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival each October.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Idaho.