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What is the current Muslim population in Idaho as of 2023?
Executive summary
Available sources consistently report that Muslims are a very small minority in Idaho—commonly estimated at about 1% of the state’s population, which would map to roughly 18,000 people if applied to a 2020 population base of about 1.8–2.0 million [1] [2]. Precise 2023 counts for Idaho’s Muslim population are not provided directly in the supplied material; the best available figures are derived from state-level percentages and local community estimates [3] [2].
1. What the data explicitly says: “About 1%”
Multiple items in the provided search results describe Idaho’s Muslim share as around 1% of the population. A local news summary of religion by county noted Ada County reporting 1% Muslim in census-derived measures [4]. A tertiary summary explicitly says “1% of Idahoans are Muslim (an estimated 18,300 residents)” [2]. Those figures are the clearest explicit percentage-level claims in the available reporting.
2. How that percentage translates into people (and why totals vary)
Converting a 1% share into a headcount depends on which population baseline you use. The ARDA religion report lists Idaho’s 2020 population as 1,839,106 [1]. One percent of that is about 18,391 people—close to the 18,300 number given in a secondary source [1] [2]. Idaho’s broader-state population is also often rounded to “about two million” in general state profiles [5]; 1% of two million would be about 20,000. Sources do not supply a single authoritative 2023 headcount for Idaho Muslims, so small differences in the baseline population produce small numeric variation [5] [1] [2].
3. National and methodological context: survey vs. institution counts
National and state religion counts come from different methods—surveys (like Pew’s Religious Landscape Study) and institutional counts (e.g., congregational membership tallies). The Pew Religious Landscape Study covers 2023–24 data collection and reports state-level religious affiliation surveys, but the provided Pew page for Idaho emphasizes margins of error and does not quote a single statewide Muslim headcount in these snippets [3] [6]. Institutional or local community estimates—such as mosque or Islamic society counts cited for cities like Meridian and Boise—give useful local snapshots (e.g., an estimate of about 2,500 Muslims in Meridian) but are not statewide totals [7].
4. Local snapshots: Treasure Valley and Meridian
Local reporting and community organizations indicate concentrated Muslim communities in parts of southern Idaho. An Islamic Society estimate places Meridian’s Muslim population around 2,500 and notes active family participation in local centers [7]. The Islamic Center of Boise is cited as a major regional hub serving southern Idaho, which suggests much of the state’s Muslim population is clustered in the Boise/ Treasure Valley area [7] [8]. These local counts help explain how a statewide 1% can break down geographically.
5. Limits of the available reporting and what’s not found
Available sources do not provide a definitive 2023 statewide Muslim headcount from a single authoritative dataset; Pew’s RLS for 2023–24 covers Idaho but the snippets here do not list a specific percentage or number for Muslims in 2023 [3] [6]. No supplied source gives an official 2023 census-style religious enumeration for Idaho’s Muslim population. The World Population Review and other national compilations list broader state rankings of Muslim populations but the specific Idaho 2023 figure is not present in those snippets provided [9] [10].
6. Competing perspectives and how to reconcile them
Two types of figures appear in the results: (A) aggregated percentage-based estimates that put Idaho at roughly 1% Muslim [4] [2] and (B) local community estimates that put several thousand Muslims in specific cities (e.g., Meridian ≈ 2,500) without claiming a full-state total [7]. Reconciling these means treating 1% as the best simple statewide estimate based on available reporting and deriving a plausible headcount of roughly 18,000–20,000 depending on whether you use the 2020 population base or a rounded 2 million figure [1] [5] [2].
7. What to cite or consult next for precision
To produce a precise 2023 headcount you would need either the full 2023–24 Pew Religious Landscape Study state tables for Idaho (the provided Pew pages advertise that study but the snippets here don’t include a precise Muslim percentage) or a state-level religious census breakdown such as ARDA’s updated reports; neither full table is present in the supplied snippets [3] [11] [1]. Local Islamic organizations can provide city-by-city tallies, but those must be aggregated carefully to avoid double-counting [7].
Summary conclusion: Using available reporting, Idaho’s Muslim population is best represented as about 1% of state residents—roughly 18,000–20,000 people depending on the population base used—but a definitive 2023 statewide headcount is not present in the provided sources [4] [2] [1].