Rupert is 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 ...

and largest city of Minidoka County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Burley Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,082 at the 2020 census, up from 5,554 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

.quickfacts.census.gov Rupert, Idaho
,

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 ...

, 2010. Accessed 2011-12-11. Rupert, founded in 1906, sprang up after the announcement of the Minidoka Reclamation Project, which provided irrigation and electricity following the completion of the

Minidoka Dam The Minidoka Dam is an earthfill dam in the Western United States, western United States, on the Snake River in south central Idaho. Completed in 1906, the dam is east of Rupert, Idaho, Rupert on county highway 400; it is high and nearly a mile ( ...

on the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

in 1906. After the dam was built, Rupert became one of the first cities in the world to have its streets lit by electricity.

Geography

Rupert is located in southern Minidoka County at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It is part of the agricultural region of the

Snake River Plain The Snake River cutting through the plain leaves many canyons and Canyon#List of gorges, gorges, such as this one near Twin Falls, Idaho The Snake River Plain is a geology, geologic feature located primarily within the U.S. state of Idaho. ...

known as

Magic Valley The Magic Valley, also known as South Central Idaho, is a region in south-central Idaho constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural reg ...

, and is northwest of the

. Interstate 84 passes to the south, and before its construction,

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

passed through Rupert.

Acequia An acequia () or (, also known as síquia , all from ) is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Acequias are found in parts of Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and what i ...

lies about northeast of Rupert and

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

is about east of Rupert on the Snake River of Minidoka County and Cassia County of Idaho and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

is about the same distance to the west. According to the

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

, Rupert has a total area of , all of it land.

Climate

These data are from the Western Regional Climate Center, compiled over the years 1906 to 2002.

Demographics

2010 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 2010, there were 5,554 people, 2,026 households, and 1,397 families living in the city. 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 2,186 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 75.0%

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 ...

, 0.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.6% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 20.1% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races.

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 were 42.9% of the population. There were 2,026 households, of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% 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, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.0% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.30. The median age in the city was 33.3 years. 30.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.2% were from 25 to 44; 21.8% were from 45 to 64; and 15% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.0% male and 51.0% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 5,645 people, 2,024 households, and 1,443 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,204 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 72.65%

, 0.37%

, 1.17% Native American, 0.32% 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 ...

, 22.69% from other races, and 2.78% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 35.39% of the population. There were 2,024 households, out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were

living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.31. In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.2% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,105, and the median income for a family was $29,423. Males had a median income of $28,070 versus $16,779 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 city was $12,253. About 18.9% of families and 21.5% 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 29.2% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over. Rupert City Hall

Education

Rupert is served by the Minidoka County Schools system. Children are zoned to: * Rupert Elementary School (Rupert - Grades K-5) * East Minico Middle School (Rupert - grades 6-8) * Minico High School (unincorporated Myers in Minidoka County, grades 9-12), midway between Paul and Rupert * Mt. Harrison High School (Heyburn - grades 9-12, alternative high school) DeMary Memorial Library is the area library. The county is in the catchment area, but not the taxation zone, for

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Together with the College of Eastern Idaho, College of Western Idaho and North Ida ...

. - See area 1 in:

Notable people

Boyd Coddington Boyd Coddington (August 28, 1944 – February 27, 2008) was an American hot rod designer, the owner of the Boyd Coddington Hot Rod Shop, and star of ''American Hot Rod'' on TLC (TV channel), TLC. Early life, education and early career Coddingto ...

, hot rod shop-owner and television show host *

Lou Dobbs Louis Carl Dobbs (September 24, 1945 – July 18, 2024) was an American conservative political commentator, author, and television host who presented '' Moneyline'' (later ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'') from 1980 to 2009 and 2011 to 2021. From 2021 unti ...

, television anchor and pundit *

Bill Fagerbakke William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' franchise, and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom '' Coach''. He also appeared in 12 episodes of the sitcom ' ...

, actor *

Richard D. Hansen Richard D. Hansen is an American archaeologist who is an adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Utah. Career Hansen is a specialist on the ancient Maya civilization and directs the Mirador Basin Project, which investigates a circ ...

, archaeologist of Mayan ruins *

Dusty Kline Morris William "Dusty" Kline (January 18, 1898 – September 12, 1966) was an American football player and coach. He served as the first head football coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University—coaching one season in 1933 and co ...

, first football coach at Boise Junior College (now

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

) * John Norby, former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

running back

References

External links

* - City of Rupert
Chamber of Commerce
- Minidoka & Cassia counties {{authority control Cities in Minidoka County, Idaho Cities in Idaho County seats in Idaho Burley, Idaho micropolitan area Populated places established in 1906 1906 establishments in Idaho