STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Feeling a little anxious about the rush of newcomers to the Wood River Valley since the pandemic began?
Got some good news for you.
It looks like growth is slowing, judging by license data at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
A thousand new residents moved into Blaine County between the start of the pandemic and April 2021, based on DMV information gathered by Sun Valley Economic Development. The DMV reported an additional 682 new registered drivers from April through November 2021.
Just over 700 former Blaine County residents surrendered their drivers licenses to relocate elsewhere, meaning a net of 900 new drivers took up residence between the start of the pandemic and November 2021.
“The growth rate of new registrations radically slowed in April ’21 and has settled into a pattern where new registrations are almost exactly offset by de-registrations,” said Harry Griffith, executive director of SVED.
Of those new drivers, 534 were from California; 229, Washington, and 115, Oregon.
New drivers represented every state but South Dakota and West Virginia.
And 798 of those new drivers are over 61 years of age.
In contrast, the county lost Under 21’s at a higher rate than any other age category with 171 leaving as opposed to coming.