List of counties in Idaho

Counties of Idaho
Ada Adams Ban- nock Bear Lake Bene- wah Bingham Blaine Boise Bonner Bonneville Boundary Butte Camas Can- yon Caribou Cassia Clark Clearwater Custer Elmore Frank- lin Fremont Gem Good- ing Idaho Jeffer- son Jerome Koote- nai Latah Lemhi Lewis Lincoln Madi- son Mini- doka Nez Perce Oneida Owyhee Pay- ette Power Shoshone Te- ton Twin Falls Valley Wash- ington
Location	State of Idaho
Number	44
Populations	982 (Clark) – 392,365 (Ada)
Areas	408 square miles (1,060 km^2) (Payette) – 8,485 square miles (21,980 km^2) (Idaho)
Government	County government
Subdivisions	cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, indian reservations, census designated place

This is a list of 44 counties in the U.S. state of Idaho.

Each county in Idaho has a license plate prefix, according to the first letter of the county name. The first county for a given letter is given #1, the second county #2, etc. For example, Ada and Adams are the only two counties with the letter 'A'. Since Ada comes before Adams alphabetically, Ada is '1A' while Adams is '2A.' There are four counties that start with the letter 'L': Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, and Lincoln; the license plate prefixes for these counties are 1L, 2L, 3L, and 4L, respectively.

Elmore, Idaho, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Valley, and Washington counties are the only ones in the state with those beginning letters. Therefore, the license plate prefix would be the first letter of the county name, without a number. The letter 'B' has ten counties, 'C' has seven, and 'L' has four; the remaining letters have two or fewer.

When the Idaho Territory was created in March 1863, there were five original counties: Shoshone, Nez Perce, Idaho, Boise, and Missoula. Kootenai, Owyhee, and Oneida were created by 1865, Ada was created in 1866, and when the territory reached Idaho's present day dimensions in 1868, Lemhi was formed. By 1880, 13 counties were created. Ten years later, when Idaho became a state, 18 counties were created. In 1893, Fremont and Bannock counties were created. By 1900, Idaho had 21 counties. Ten years later, only two new counties were created. Between 1910 and 1920, 21 new counties were created, bringing the number of counties to 44, where it remains today.

Alphabetical list

County	FIPS County Code [1]	County seat [2]	Established [2]	Origin [3]	License Plate Designator [4]	Etymology [5]	Population [2][6]	Area [2][6]	Map
Ada County	001	Boise	1864	Boise County	1A	Ada Riggs, daughter of H. C. Riggs, a member of the Idaho Territorial Legislature.	392,365	1,055 sq mi (2,732 km^2)
Adams County	003	Council	1911	Washington County	2A	John Adams (1735-1826), second President of the United States (1797-1801).	3,976	1,365 sq mi (3,535 km^2)
Bannock County	005	Pocatello	1893	Bingham County	1B	Bannock Native American tribe.	82,839	1,113 sq mi (2,883 km^2)
Bear Lake County	007	Paris	1893	Oneida County	2B	Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border.	5,986	971 sq mi (2,515 km^2)
Benewah County	009	St. Maries	1915	Kootenai County	3B	Ben'wah, chief of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe	9,285	776 sq mi (2,010 km^2)
Bingham County	011	Blackfoot	1885	Oneida County	4B	Henry H. Bingham (1841-1912), a general in the American Civil War and a U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania.	45,607	2,095 sq mi (5,426 km^2)
Blaine County	013	Hailey	1895	Alturas County	5B	James G. Blaine (1830-1893), United States Secretary of State (1881, 1889-1892).	21,376	2,645 sq mi (6,851 km^2)
Boise County	015	Idaho City	1864	Original county	6B	Boise River	7,028	1,902 sq mi (4,926 km^2)
Bonner County	017	Sandpoint	1907	Kootenai County	7B	Edwin L. Bonner, originator of an 1864 ferry service on the Kootenai River.	40,877	1,738 sq mi (4,501 km^2)
Bonneville County	019	Idaho Falls	1911	Bingham County	8B	Benjamin Bonneville (1796-1878), a French-born explorer of the West.	104,234	1,869 sq mi (4,841 km^2)
Boundary County	021	Bonners Ferry	1915	Bonner	9B	Borders Canada on the north.	10,972	1,269 sq mi (3,287 km^2)
Butte County	023	Arco	1917	Bingham, Blaine, and Jefferson counties	10B	Buttes rising from the Snake River Plain.	2,891	2,233 sq mi (5,783 km^2)
Camas County	025	Fairfield	1917	Blaine County	1C	Camassia, a plant species important as a food source among Native Americans and early settlers.	1,117	1,075 sq mi (2,784 km^2)
Canyon County	027	Caldwell	1892	Ada County	2C	Disputed, either a canyon of the Boise River near Caldwell or a canyon of the Snake River which forms part of the county's boundary.	188,923	590 sq mi (1,528 km^2)
Caribou County	029	Soda Springs	1919	Bannock County	3C	Caribou Mountains	6,963	1,766 sq mi (4,574 km^2)
Cassia County	031	Burley	1879	Owyhee County	4C	Disputed, either Cassia Creek or a member of the Mormon Battalion, James John Cazier.	22,952	2,567 sq mi (6,648 km^2)
Clark County	033	Dubois	1919	Fremont County	5C	Sam K. Clark, early settler and a member of the Idaho Senate.	982	1,765 sq mi (4,571 km^2)
Clearwater County	035	Orofino	1911	Nez Perce County	6C	Clearwater River	8,761	2,462 sq mi (6,377 km^2)
Custer County	037	Challis	1881	Alturas and Lemhi counties	7C	General Custer mine, named after George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), United States Army general.	4,368	4,926 sq mi (12,758 km^2)
Elmore County	039	Mountain Home	1889	Alturas County	E	Ida Elmore mines, locally noted for gold and silver production in the 1860s.	27,038	3,078 sq mi (7,972 km^2)
Franklin County	041	Preston	1913	Oneida County	1F	Franklin D. Richards (1821-1899), early LDS Church apostle.	12,786	666 sq mi (1,725 km^2)
Fremont County	043	Saint Anthony	1893	Bingham County	2F	John C. Frémont (1813-1890), an explorer of the West.	13,242	1,867 sq mi (4,836 km^2)
Gem County	045	Emmett	1915	Boise and Canyon counties	1G	State nickname of "Gem State."	16,719	563 sq mi (1,458 km^2)
Gooding County	047	Gooding	1913	Lincoln County	2G	Frank R. Gooding (1859-1928), seventh Governor of Idaho (1905-1909), U.S. Senator (1921-1928).	15,464	731 sq mi (1,893 km^2)
Idaho County	049	Grangeville	1864	Original county	I	Columbia River steamship Idaho launched in 1860. Name predates both Idaho Territory and the State of Idaho.	16,267	8,485 sq mi (21,976 km^2)
Jefferson County	051	Rigby	1913	Fremont County	1J	Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third President of the United States (1801-1809).	26,140	1,095 sq mi (2,836 km^2)
Jerome County	053	Jerome	1919	Gooding and Lincoln counties	2J	Disputed, either North Side Irrigation Project developer Jerome Hill, his son-in-law Jerome Kuhn, or his grandson Jerome Kuhn, Jr.	22,374	600 sq mi (1,554 km^2)
Kootenai County	055	Coeur d'Alene	1864	Nez Perce County	K	Kootenai Native American tribe.	138,494	1,245 sq mi (3,225 km^2)
Latah County	057	Moscow	1888	Nez Perce County	1L	Latah Creek, Nez Perce for "the place of pine trees and sestle."	37,244	1,077 sq mi (2,789 km^2)
Lemhi County	059	Salmon	1869	Idaho County	2L	Limhi, king of the Nephites according to the Book of Mormon.	7,936	4,564 sq mi (11,821 km^2)
Lewis County	061	Nezperce	1911	Nez Perce County	3L	Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809), a leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.	3,821	479 sq mi (1,241 km^2)
Lincoln County	063	Shoshone	1895	Logan County	4L	Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), sixteenth President of the United States (1861-1865). Idaho Territory was founded under Lincoln's administration.	5,208	1,206 sq mi (3,124 km^2)
Madison County	065	Rexburg	1913	Fremont County	1M	James Madison (1751-1836), fourth President of the United States (1809-1817).	37,536	472 sq mi (1,222 km^2)
Minidoka County	067	Rupert	1913	Lincoln County	2M	Disputed Native American origin, either Lakota for "a fountain or spring of water" or Shoshoni for "broad expanse."	20,069	760 sq mi (1,968 km^2)
Nez Perce County	069	Lewiston	1864	Original county	N	The Nez Perce, a Native American tribe.	39,265	849 sq mi (2,199 km^2)
Oneida County	071	Malad City	1864	Original County	1O	Oneida Lake in New York state, where many early settlers were from.	4,286	1,200 sq mi (3,108 km^2)
Owyhee County	073	Murphy	1863	Original county	2O	Alternate spelling of Hawaii. Hawaiian fur trappers explored the area in 1819 and 1820.	11,526	7,678 sq mi (19,886 km^2)
Payette County	075	Payette	1917	Canyon County	1P	Francois Payette (1793-1844?), Canadian-born fur trader and early settler.	22,623	408 sq mi (1,057 km^2)
Power County	077	American Falls	1913	Bingham, Blaine, and Oneida counties	2P	The American Falls Power Plant	7,817	1,406 sq mi (3,642 km^2)
Shoshone County	079	Wallace	1864	Original county	S	Shoshone Native American tribe.	12,765	2,634 sq mi (6,822 km^2)
Teton County	081	Driggs	1915	Bingham, Fremont, and Madison counties	1T	Teton Range and valley.	10,170	450 sq mi (1,165 km^2)
Twin Falls County	083	Twin Falls	1907	Cassia County	2T	Twin Falls waterfall on the Snake River.	77,230	1,925 sq mi (4,986 km^2)
Valley County	085	Cascade	1917	Boise and Idaho counties	V	Long Valley located in the county.	9,862	3,733 sq mi (9,668 km^2)
Washington County	087	Weiser	1879	Ada County	W	George Washington (1732-1799), first President of the United States (1789-1797).	10,198	1,456 sq mi (3,771 km^2)

Remember the counties

In some fourth grade classrooms, students memorize the counties with the following poem:

Counties of Idaho Poem
Ada is first with our capital town,
Adams’ Seven Devils go straight up and down.
Then ten counties start with B;
Bannock, Bear Lake, Benewah three;
Bingham, Blaine, Boise, Bonner,
Bonneville, Boundary, Butte make ten.
Then the next seven start with C:
Camas, Canyon, Caribou three.
Cassia, Clark, Clearwater, Custer,
Are the Idaho C’s we can muster.
Elmore, Franklin, Fremont, Gem,
Gooding and Idaho don’t forget them.
Flatlands of Jefferson,
Potatoes of Jerome,
Kootenai, Latah, we’re almost home.
Lemhi and Lewis,
Hurry, hurry, hurry!
Lincoln with its ice caves
Very very burry.
Madison, Minidoka, Nez Perce;
Our Indian accent grows worse and worse.
Oneida, Owyhee, a little faster please
Payette and Power are the only Ps.
Shoshone, Teton, Twin Falls, almost done,
Valley County and Washington.
Author unknown

Defunct Idaho counties

• Alturas County: A huge county in south-central Idaho that was formed in 1864, but split up and abolished in 1895.
• Lah-Toh County: A county in northern Idaho that was formed in 1864, but it was abolished a short time later in 1867.
• Logan County: Formed by a partition of Alturas County in 1889, but it was shortly abolished in 1895.

References

1. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA.gov. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
2. National Association of Counties. "NACo - Find a county". Retrieved 2008-04-26.
3. Hailey, John (1910). The History of Idaho. Press of Syms-York company. pp. 305–307. OCLC 5793481. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
4. "County License Plate Designators" (PDF). Idaho Transportation Department. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
5. "List of Idaho Counties - Idaho.gov". State of Idaho. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
6. "Idaho QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-04-23. (2000 Census)