Coeur d’Alene Posts Exceptional Job Growth Fueled by Health Care

Local economic data and reporting published Feb. 19 described Coeur d’Alene’s recent run of job growth as "exceptional," driven primarily by gains in health care. The city now employs more than 4,300 healthcare practitioners and 2,450 healthcare support workers, with the practitioner specialization 9% greater than the U.S. average and the healthcare support cluster 27% larger than the U.S. average.

The service sector remains central to that growth: 47.9% of Coeur d’Alene workers have skills associated with the service sector, a share that ranks second among the benchmark cities and sits well above the U.S. average of 41.5%. The service sector has increased 6% since 2013, twice the national pace, and includes occupations such as healthcare support, protective services, food preparation, personal care, sales, and office and administrative support. The report cites "Figure 10: Coeur d’Alene Service Sector, 2017. Source: U.S. Census American Community Survey 2017" for the service-sector snapshot.

Beyond front-line care, the community’s science occupational cluster stands out as a specialized creative and knowledge sector. That cluster is 19% more concentrated than the U.S. average, is the second fastest growing sector locally, and employs fewer than 1,000 workers. The analysis flags the science cluster as an opportunity to support the expanding healthcare sector as it "transitions into an export industry for the community."

Technology and higher-skilled business roles also show rapid growth that could broaden the county’s economic base. Approximately 1,000 Coeur d’Alene workers have computer and IT skills; that cluster expanded 21% from 2014 to 2019 and is projected to grow another 12% by 2024, with an average annual wage of $61,200 for local technology workers. Management and business and financial operations account for more than 6,500 workers, representing about 9% of the city’s workforce; those clusters grew over 20% from 2014 to 2019 and are projected to grow between 8% and 11% by 2024.

Manufacturing and production skills remain a significant part of the local mix. Approximately 4,500 Coeur d’Alene residents make up the city’s working sector, about 20% of residents, in skills associated with production and manufacturing. The analysis notes this skill set will be important as the community continues to build, develop and address its housing supply.

Taken together, the counts and concentration measures point to a health-care-led expansion with complementary gains in science, technology, and management. Those sectoral shifts have immediate implications for labor demand in North Idaho hospitals and clinics, for wages in tech roles, and for local planning as nearly half the workforce retains service-sector skill sets that support the health-care growth trajectory.