Quick Facts about Pocatello

  • Idaho State University is one of just 36 schools currently certified by the U.S. Government to train cyber security professionals.

  • Pocatello has a delightful four-season climate. Sunny, warm, and dry describes most days, and less than 15 inches of precipitation fall per year.

  • Idaho is #4 in CNBC.com's July 2008 survey of America's Top States for Business.

  • Between 1997–2002, Idaho ranked fourth in the growth of women-owned businesses (National Foundation for Women Business Owners).

  • Famous People from Pocatello: Pocatello resident and ISU alum Stacy Dragila won Olympic gold in women’s pole-vaulting at the 2000 Olympiad, held in Sydney, Australia.

  • Energy rates in Southeastern Idaho are among the lowest in the nation.

  • Pocatello is named for a Shoshone-Bannock Indian Chief who ceded the land for the city and granted a right-of-way through the Fort Hall Reservation allowing railroad construction.

  • Idaho State University's Accounting Department has consistently held one of the nation's highest first-time pass rates for student/alumni candidates taking the Certified Public Accountant Exam.

  • In 2007, Forbes Magazine ranked Idaho as having the #3 Best Economic Climate.

  • Pocatello has an unusually young population, with a median age for residents of 29.8 years.

  • The U.S. Census Bureau ranked Idaho as the #5 Best Homeownership rate in the nation!

  • According to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy in October 2008, Idaho is the most improved state for employing energy efficiency.

  • According to the Small Business&Entrepreneur Council in April 2009, Idaho has the #2 lowest energy costs.

  • If you were a Southeastern Idaho resident, you could leave work at 5 today, and be on the ski slopes (or golf course, or at your favorite trout stream) by 6 o'clock!

  • Forbes magazine ranked Pocatello "8th Best Place for Business and Careers" among small metro areas (populations below 177,000). (Forbes 5/2002).

  • In July 2008 Idaho was ranked #3 as America's Best Places for Alternative Energy-Geothermal by Forbes.com.

  • The Milken Institute recently ranked Pocatello MSA 3rd in growth rate of high-tech manufacturing companies.

  • In September 2007, the Milken Institute ranked Idaho as #5 state for the Lowest Cost of Doing Business.

  • The Pocatello area is rich with the history of the Old West. The city once had a system of underground tunnels, which were home to illegal gambling parlors.