Custer County is a rural mountain

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the center of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,275, making it the fifth-least populous county in Idaho. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Challis. Established in 1881, the county was named for the General Custer Mine, where

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

was discovered five years earlier. Custer County relies on ranching, mining, and tourism as its main resources.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Idaho by area. The Lost River Range, the state's highest mountains, are located in eastern Custer County. The highest is Borah Peak, the highest natural point in

at . On the western border of the county is Idaho's famous Sawtooth Range; the tallest is Thompson Peak in Custer County, above picturesque Redfish Lake. east are the White Cloud Mountains, the tallest of which is Castle Peak at . The Salmon River and Big Lost River flow through Custer County.

Adjacent counties

* Lemhi County - north * Butte County - east * Blaine County - south * Elmore County - southwest * Boise County - southwest * Valley County - west

Major highways

* US 93 * *

National protected areas

* Challis National Forest (part) *

Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the United States Depart ...

(part) * Sawtooth National Recreation Area (part) ** Hemingway–Boulders Wilderness (part) ** Jim McClure–Jerry Peak Wilderness ** Sawtooth Wilderness (part) ** Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds Wilderness

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 4,342 people, 1,770 households, and 1,196 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 2,983 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.28%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.55% Native American, 0.02% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.17% from other races, and 0.94% from two or more races. 4.21% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 18.6% were of English, 17.0% German, 10.9% Irish and 9.9% American ancestry. There were 1,770 households, out of which 29.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 4.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 27.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.96. In the county, the population was distributed as follows: 25.50% were under 18, 4.80% were between 18 and 24, 25.90% were between 25 and 44, 29.30% were between 45 and 64, and 14.50% were 65 or older. The median age was 41 years. There were 104.50 males for every 100 females, and for every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 106.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,174, and the median income for a family was $39,551. Males had a median income of $32,255 versus $21,463 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $15,783. About 10.70% of families and 14.30% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 16.70% of those under age 18 and 12.80% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 4,368 people, 1,936 households, and 1,244 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 3,103 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.4% white, 0.6% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 1.5% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 34.3% were English, 25.6% were German, 19.5% were Irish, and 2.8% were American. Of the 1,936 households, 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.7% were non-families, and 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.74. The median age was 48.0 years. The median income for a household in the county was $41,910 and the median income for a family was $56,710. Males had a median income of $42,865 versus $27,317 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,625. About 10.1% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the

, including 19.2% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Custer County is overwhelmingly Republican. The last Democrat to carry the county was John F. Kennedy in 1960, since 1968 no Democrat has passed 37 percent of the county's vote, and the last to pass 28 percent was

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis ( ; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

in 1988. However, unusually for so Republican a county, the westernmost precincts adjacent to Blaine County give Democratic majorities in most statewide elections. In the 2008 Presidential election, it supported Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

over Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

by a margin of 71 percent to 25 percent. In 2012, the county gave

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

a first ballot victory in the Republican primary caucus and subsequently voted 74.1 percent for him in the

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

. In 2016,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

won the Republican primaries with 41.8 percent of support in the county although

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

won the state with 45.5 percent.

Communities

Cities

* Challis * Clayton * Lost River * Mackay *

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

Unincorporated communities

* Dickey * Ellis * Goldburg

Ghost towns

* Bayhorse *

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

* Custer

Education

School districts include: * Butte County Joint School District 111 * Challis Joint School District 181 * Mackay Joint School District 182 College of Eastern Idaho includes this county in its catchment zone; however this county is not in its taxation zone.

References

External links

*
Challis School District #181