RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Boise ...

The city of Boise is located in Ada County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of Idaho.

The pronunciation of Boise: BOY-see<2>

Boise was established in 1863.

When the people of Boise refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Boisean<3>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Boise has a population of 229,142 people<4> (see below for details).

The community of Boise is 2,740 feet [835 m] above sea level.<5> In other words, the elevation of Boise is about ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: Boise lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Boise: 208 & 986<6>

The ZIP codes for Boise: 83701-83709, 83711-83717, 83719-83720, 83722, 83724-83726, 83728-83729, 83732, 83735, 83756, 83799<7>

The city of Boise was previously named Boise City.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Boise had an population of 229,142 people. This is an increase of 11.41% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 23.34% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Boise had a population of 205,671 people (which is 52.29% of the total population of Ada County). This makes Boise the county's most populous community.

The population of Boise represents 13.12% of the population of Idaho (which has 1,567,582 people), making it the state's most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 205,671 people, the population of Boise increased 10.7% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 185,787 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Boise.

Communities Also Named Boise ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 2 communities that are also named Boise - they are located in Texas and Washington.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Boise.

Websites for Boise ...

Official Website:   www.cityofboise.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.boisechamber.org/

Junior League:   www.jlboise.com/

Communities near Boise ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Boise.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Boise. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Boise.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Boise. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Boise.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Boise. Our list includes 78 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Boise.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Boise ...

Looking for more information about Boise? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Boise, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Boise.

Adding Boise to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Boise in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Boise was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Boise.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Idaho's counties, including Ada, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Boise. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Boise refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Boise may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<4>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Boise.
<5>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Boise - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<6>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 208 code has been Overlayed with the 986 area code. New phone numbers in the Boise area will be assigned with one of these codes: 208 or 986. As a result, placing a call in the Boise area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<7>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Boise). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Boise or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Boise includes: 83701, 83702, 83703, 83704, 83705, 83706, 83707, 83708, 83711, 83712, 83713, 83714, 83715, 83716, 83719, 83722, 83724, 83725, 83728, 83732, 83735, 83756 & 83799.
<8>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.