In 2020, while most of Idaho was dealing with a pandemic, a small rural county in the north was quietly facing a housing crisis nobody was talking about. The Idaho Policy Institute formal eviction rate 2020 Shoshone County data tells a story that goes far beyond a percentage. It’s about families in Wallace, Kellogg, and Smelterville who woke up one morning with a court order telling them to leave.
If you’re here because you want to understand what actually happened, you’re in the right place.
What Is the Idaho Policy Institute?
The Idaho Policy Institute (IPI) is a nonpartisan research center based at Boise State University. It pulls eviction data directly from Idaho Supreme Court records every single year. That means the numbers are court-verified, not estimated.
IPI tracks two separate things: eviction filings and formal evictions. A filing is when a landlord takes a tenant to court. A formal eviction is when the judge actually orders the tenant out. The formal eviction rate is the harder, more serious number. It only counts the cases where everything ran its full course.
What Was the Formal Eviction Rate in Shoshone County in 2020?
The Idaho Policy Institute formal eviction rate 2020 Shoshone County was approximately 1.10%. Idaho’s statewide average that same year was 0.6%. That means Shoshone County renters were nearly twice as likely to be formally evicted through a court order compared to the rest of the state.
To put that into plain numbers: Shoshone County had roughly 1,642 renter households in 2020. With a 1.10% formal eviction rate, that works out to about 18 households formally evicted by court order. Thirty-one eviction filings were recorded in total, giving a filing rate of around 1.89%.
One in every 90 renters in Shoshone County lost their home through a court ruling. Statewide, the odds were closer to one in 168.
Why Was Shoshone County’s Rate So Much Higher?
Shoshone County sits in Idaho’s Silver Valley. It’s historically built on mining and forestry. By 2020, the local economy had shifted to seasonal tourism, small businesses, and service jobs. Every single one of those sectors took a direct hit when the pandemic arrived.
When income drops fast and rent stays fixed, the math turns brutal quickly. That’s exactly what happened here.
On top of that, Shoshone County had structural gaps that made things worse:
- No formal mediation programs between landlords and tenants
- Limited legal aid for renters facing eviction
- Fewer nonprofit housing agencies operating locally
- Small landlord pool with tight financial margins
Unlike Ada or Canyon County, Shoshone had fewer safety nets. When a filing happened, there was less standing between that filing and a formal eviction.
How Did COVID-19 Affect the 2020 Numbers?
This part is important. Statewide, eviction filings in Idaho dropped 30% from 2019 to 2020. That drop was not because landlords became more generous. It happened because:
Courts closed in April 2020 following an Idaho Supreme Court order. Filings hit their lowest point that month. When courts reopened in May, filings spiked sharply.
The CDC eviction moratorium took effect in September 2020, temporarily blocking certain residential evictions. The CARES Act also placed protections on federally backed rental properties earlier in the year.
These protections helped. But they didn’t reach everyone. The Shoshone County formal eviction rate 2020 Idaho policy institute data shows that even with these shields in place, formal evictions still happened. Rural renters without legal knowledge often didn’t know they qualified for protection. Some landlords filed anyway. Some tenants left before a hearing just to avoid a court record.
The formal numbers only capture the cases that ran all the way through the system. The real housing stress was much higher.
Formal Evictions vs. the Full Picture
The idaho policy institute formal eviction rate shoshone county 2020 is reliable, but it’s only part of the story. Formal eviction data does not include:
- Tenants who left before a hearing
- Private agreements between landlords and renters
- Rent increases that forced people out without a court order
- Homeless displacement not connected to a court filing
Think of it like an iceberg. The formal eviction rate is the tip you can see. The full housing instability sits below the surface.
In a small rental market like Shoshone County, even one informal displacement ripples through the community. There are fewer units available. Moving costs money people often don’t have. The next town might be 20 miles away.
How Does Shoshone Compare to Other Idaho Counties?
| County | Renter Households | Formal Eviction Rate |
| Shoshone | ~1,642 | 1.10% |
| Idaho Statewide | ~189,000 | 0.60% |
| Ada County | High volume | Below state avg |
| Kootenai County | Mid-size | Near state avg |
Source: Idaho Policy Institute, Boise State University, 2020 Eviction Study
Urban counties like Ada and Canyon had far more raw filings simply because they have larger renter populations. But rural counties like Shoshone often show a higher rate because fewer safety nets exist locally and because a small number of cases represents a large share of the rental market.
The idaho policy institute formal eviction rate 2020 shoshone county 2020 data fits directly into that pattern.
What Does This Mean for Renters and Landlords Today?
The 2020 data is six years old. But the structural problems it revealed haven’t disappeared. Idaho’s rental market has been too tight since then. Rents have risen. Rural county housing stock hasn’t grown to match demand.
IPI’s more recent data shows Idaho had 3,039 eviction filings in 2025, up from 1,893 in 2020. The formal eviction rate held at 0.6% statewide, but rural counties continue to face higher pressure than the numbers suggest.
If you rent in Shoshone County or a similar rural area, here’s what the 2020 data practically points to:
For renters: Contact your landlord in writing before you miss a payment. Reach out to the Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA) before any notice is filed. HUD-approved housing counselors there are free and can help with rental assistance applications.
For landlords: Filing fast doesn’t always recover unpaid rent quickly. Counties with mediation programs see fewer filings convert to formal evictions. Early conversations save time and money on both sides.
For policymakers: The idaho policy institute formal eviction rate 2020 shoshone county figures are a direct signal. Rural counties need earlier intervention programs, not just post-filing assistance.
Why This Data Still Matters
A 1.10% formal eviction rate sounds small. In a county of 1,642 renter households, it translates to about 18 families. In a tight-knit community like Wallace or Kellogg, 18 families is not a footnote. It’s felt in schools, in churches, in local businesses.
The Idaho Policy Institute formal eviction rate 2020 Shoshone County figure is not just a historical data point. It’s a baseline. It shows what happens when a rural community with limited resources gets hit by economic shock without enough local support in place.
Understanding that baseline is the first step toward building something better.
Final Thoughts
FoThe Idaho Policy Institute formal eviction rate 2020 Shoshone County data tells a simple truth. When a rural community has no safety nets, even a small economic shock pushes families out of their homes fast.
Eighteen households. One in every 90 renters. Nearly double the state average. In a small town, those numbers are not small at all.
The pandemic moratoriums bought time. They didn’t buy solutions. The structural gaps in Shoshone County, limited legal aid, no mediation programs, rising rents, are still there today.
If you take one thing from this data, take this: housing stability doesn’t start in a courtroom. It starts with early support, honest conversations, and local programs that reach renters before a filing ever happens. For explore latest information must visit Decreto supremo.