Boise vs Meridian
Side-by-side comparison across six federal data streams. Boise edges out Meridian on the composite MoveScore (69 vs 63).
| Metric | Boise | Meridian |
|---|---|---|
| MoveScore (Composite) | 69/100 (C) | 63/100 (C) |
| Safety (FBI UCR) | 63/100 (C) | 66/100 (B) |
| Violent Crime / 100k | 386 | 572 |
| Water (EPA SDWIS) | N/A | N/A |
| Air (EPA AQS median AQI) | 39 (C) | N/A |
| Schools (NCES) | N/A | 69/100 (B) |
| Fiscal Health (Census) | N/A | 54/100 · $7,134 pc |
| Hospitals (CMS HCAHPS) | 4.0/5 · 6 tracked | 0.0/5 · 1 tracked |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is a better place to live, Boise or Meridian?
Boise edges out Meridian on the composite MoveScore (69 vs 63). The honest answer depends on what you weight most. Boise and Meridian each have different strengths across the six federal data streams — see the breakdown above and decide which trade-offs fit your priorities.
Are Boise and Meridian in the same state?
Yes, both cities are in Idaho.
Where does the data come from?
All sub-scores trace to federal government sources: FBI UCR for safety, EPA SDWIS for water, EPA AQS for air, NCES/EDFacts for schools, Census ASPEP for fiscal health, and CMS HCAHPS for hospitals.
Side-by-side comparisons use the same six federal data streams as full city profiles. Bold entries indicate the better value on each metric.
Comparing entity A and entity B on U.S. city relocation factors — cost, climate, wages, crime, education requires lining up the underlying federal datasets including BLS, Census ACS, FBI Crime Data, NOAA Climate Normals, and NCES data side by side. The table above runs the comparison on the canonical fields; the narrative below identifies the factor or factors that drive the most meaningful difference between the two.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (cost), Census Bureau ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA, 2026.