{"id":2511,"date":"2023-04-04T11:44:19","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T11:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=2511"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:07:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:07:40","slug":"blaine-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/blaine-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Blaine County, Idaho"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Blaine County is a county in Idaho, United States, in the Wood River Valley about 85 miles<br \/>\nnorth of Twin Falls. It had a population of 24,272 at the 2020 census, an estimated 24,951 by<br \/>\n2024, and covers 2,661 square miles (6,890 km2) centred near 43\u00b023\u2032N 113\u00b059\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Hailey is the county seat and the county&#8217;s largest city; its postal code is 83333. The county<br \/>\nholds 5 incorporated cities and 11 smaller unincorporated communities, and it runs on Mountain<br \/>\nTime. Its FIPS code is 16013.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Blaine County<\/h2>\n<p>Blaine County has 16 named places on record: 5 incorporated cities and 11 unincorporated<br \/>\ncommunities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place;<br \/>\nUnincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Hailey<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>9,161<\/td>\n<td>83333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ketchum<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>3,555<\/td>\n<td>83340<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bellevue<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>2,560<\/td>\n<td>83313<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sun Valley<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>1,783<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Carey<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>685<\/td>\n<td>83320<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Picabo<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>83348<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gannett<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gimlet<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Triumph<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Galena<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sawtooth City<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Elkhorn Village<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cathedral Pines<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Doniphan<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stanton Crossing<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tikura<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Idaho has no civil townships, so places here are grouped by incorporation status only, not by<br \/>\ntownship. Several names carried on the county&#8217;s old settlement list &mdash; Barite, Boulder,<br \/>\nBullion, Cream Can Junction, Magic City and Wapi among them &mdash; are mine claims and geographic<br \/>\nfeatures from historical mining-district maps rather than inhabited places, and have been dropped<br \/>\nfrom this table.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>83333 &mdash; Hailey (also serves the airport and southern Wood River Valley ranches)<\/li>\n<li>83340 &mdash; Ketchum (also serves the Sun Valley Resort area)<\/li>\n<li>83313 &mdash; Bellevue<\/li>\n<li>83320 &mdash; Carey<\/li>\n<li>83348 &mdash; Picabo<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sun Valley and the smaller unincorporated communities &mdash; Gannett, Gimlet, Triumph, Galena,<br \/>\nSawtooth City, Elkhorn Village, Cathedral Pines, Doniphan, Stanton Crossing and Tikura &mdash; use<br \/>\nthe postal code of the nearest incorporated town rather than a code of their own.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Blaine County sits in south-central Idaho, straddling the transition from the Snake River Plain<br \/>\nto the Sawtooth Range. Of its 2,661 square miles, 2,644 are land and 17 are water, under 1 percent<br \/>\n&mdash; most of that in Magic Reservoir on the county&#8217;s southern edge. The Big Wood River runs the<br \/>\nlength of the Wood River Valley through Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey and Bellevue, and Silver<br \/>\nCreek, near Picabo, is a spring-fed trout stream known nationally among fly fishers. Sawtooth<br \/>\nNational Forest covers much of the county&#8217;s mountainous north and west.<\/p>\n<p>Custer County borders Blaine to the north, Butte County lies to the northeast, Bingham County<br \/>\nto the east, Power County to the southeast, Cassia and Minidoka counties to the south, Lincoln<br \/>\nCounty to the south and southeast, Camas County to the west and Elmore County to the northwest.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/custer-county-idaho\/\">Custer County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/bingham-county\/\">Bingham County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/power-county\/\">Power County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/cassia-county\/\">Cassia County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/minidoka-county\/\">Minidoka County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/lincoln-county-idaho\/\">Lincoln County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/camas-county\/\">Camas County<\/a> and<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/elmore-county\/\">Elmore County<\/a> all border Blaine<br \/>\ndirectly; Butte County has no live page on this site.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Blaine County had a population of 24,272 at the 2020 census, up 15 percent from the prior<br \/>\ndecade in Hailey alone, and the latest estimate puts the county near 24,951 residents. Hailey and<br \/>\nKetchum are the two largest communities, together holding more than half the county&#8217;s population.<br \/>\nMedian household income runs $92,566, well above Idaho&#8217;s statewide figure of $74,942 (2023 ACS).<br \/>\nPopulation density works out to roughly 9 people per square mile of land, low even by Idaho<br \/>\nstandards, reflecting the county&#8217;s large share of national forest and rangeland.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Construction employs the most workers in the county, about 2,339 people, followed by<br \/>\naccommodation and food services at 1,735 and retail trade at 1,578, a mix driven by resort<br \/>\nbuilding and tourism rather than agriculture. Sun Valley Resort, on Bald Mountain above Ketchum,<br \/>\nanchors the local economy with skiing, golf and conference business; St. Luke&#8217;s Wood River in<br \/>\nKetchum is the county&#8217;s main hospital. Carey, at the county&#8217;s dry southern end, stays agricultural,<br \/>\nrunning cattle and hay ground toward Craters of the Moon National Monument. The county&#8217;s biggest<br \/>\nannual event is Trailing of the Sheep Festival each October, when herders drive flocks down<br \/>\nKetchum&#8217;s Main Street on their way to lower winter range, drawing visitors well beyond the Wood<br \/>\nRiver Valley&#8217;s own population.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Idaho&#8217;s territorial legislature formed Blaine County on 5 March 1895, merging Alturas and Logan<br \/>\ncounties, and named it for James G. Blaine, a former US House Speaker and 1884 Republican<br \/>\npresidential nominee. A 1917 boundary change split off the western third of the county to create<br \/>\nCamas County, fixing Blaine&#8217;s current borders. Bellevue served briefly as county seat of the<br \/>\nshort-lived Logan County from 1889 to 1895, and its silver mines produced more than $60 million in<br \/>\nsilver, lead and gold between 1881 and the 1893 market crash, before a downtown fire in 1905<br \/>\ndestroyed much of its business district.<\/p>\n<p>Union Pacific Railroad chairman W. Averell Harriman opened Sun Valley Resort on 21 December<br \/>\n1936, installing the world&#8217;s first chairlifts on Dollar and Proctor mountains to draw passenger<br \/>\ntraffic to the railroad. The resort closed for three years during the Second World War to serve<br \/>\nas a US Navy convalescent hospital, reopening to the public in December 1946. Author Ernest<br \/>\nHemingway finished writing &#8220;For Whom the Bell Tolls&#8221; at the resort lodge in the fall of 1939 and<br \/>\nis buried in Ketchum&#8217;s cemetery.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate highway crosses Blaine County. Idaho State Highway 75 runs the length of the Wood<br \/>\nRiver Valley through Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley; US Route 20 crosses the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nsouthern end near Carey, connecting west toward Boise and east toward Idaho Falls.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Twin Falls &mdash; about 85 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Boise &mdash; about 150 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Idaho Falls &mdash; about 150 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Pocatello &mdash; about 130 miles southeast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) in Hailey is the county&#8217;s commercial airport, with year-round<br \/>\nservice to Salt Lake City and Seattle and seasonal flights to other West Coast cities and Denver.<br \/>\nNo Amtrak route reaches Blaine County; Idaho&#8217;s only Amtrak stop is the Empire Builder station at<br \/>\nSandpoint, in the state&#8217;s northern panhandle, far from the Wood River Valley.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Blaine County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in south-central Idaho&#8217;s Wood River Valley, about 85 miles north of Twin Falls, bordered<br \/>\nby Custer, Butte, Bingham, Power, Cassia, Minidoka, Lincoln, Camas and Elmore counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Blaine County?<\/strong><br \/>\n24,272 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 24,951.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Blaine County?<\/strong><br \/>\n2,661 square miles (6,890 km2), of which 2,644 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Blaine County?<\/strong><br \/>\nHailey, the county&#8217;s largest city, is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Blaine County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFive incorporated cities &mdash; Hailey, Ketchum, Bellevue, Sun Valley and Carey &mdash; plus 11<br \/>\nunincorporated communities including Picabo, Triumph and Galena.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Blaine County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n83333 for Hailey, 83340 for Ketchum, 83313 for Bellevue, 83320 for Carey and 83348 for Picabo.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Blaine County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nSun Valley Resort, the country&#8217;s first destination ski resort, opened in 1936 with the world&#8217;s<br \/>\nfirst chairlifts, and the annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival each October.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/idaho\/\">Towns and villages in Idaho<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u00b023\u2032N 113\u00b059\u2032W. Hailey is the county seat and the county&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Blaine County, Idaho","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 16 towns and communities in Blaine County, Idaho - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Sun Valley Resort and Trailing of the Sheep history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-2511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-idaho","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2511"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9304,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511\/revisions\/9304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}