Bear Lake County, Idaho

A county in Idaho, ranked 36 of 44 by population.

CountyFIPS 16007

Within Idaho
Bear Lake County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Paris, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
6,727
+362 (+5.7%) since 2020
Land area
975.7
square miles. A further 7.0% of the total area is water
Population density
6.9
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Paris
Seat of county government.
Established
1875
150 years ago
Largest city
Montpelier city
Population 2,710.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Bear Lake County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Bear Lake County, Idaho from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 600 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Bear Lake County ranks

Position among the 44 counties of Idaho, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn IdahoNationally
Population6,72736th of 442,679th of 3,144
Land area975.7 sq mi32nd of 44711th of 3,144
Population density6.9 per sq mi28th of 442,691st of 3,144
Median household income$75,26011th of 44826th of 3,143

Full data for Bear Lake County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population6,727Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20206,365Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?6,367Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area975.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area73.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area1,050 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?6.9 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$75,260American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$275,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households2,278American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units4,020American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-19
58 births, 77 deaths
Net migration
+44
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Bear Lake County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Caribou CountyIdaho63 mi7,252
Franklin CountyIdaho42 mi15,889
Lincoln CountyWyoming35 mi21,180
Rich CountyUtah24 mi2,687
Cache CountyUtaha single point145,000

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 44 counties of Idaho

Open the interactive Idaho county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.