Gooding is the county seat and largest city of Gooding County, Idaho, United States.GR: 6 Its population was 3,384 at the 2000 census.

The city is named for Frank R. Gooding, a local sheep rancher who became a prominent political figure in Idaho in the early 20th Century, serving as both Governor of Idaho and a United States Senator. The original name of Gooding was Toponis.

Gooding is home to the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind.

The world's largest factory for barrel cheese, the raw product for processed cheese, is located in Gooding. It has a capacity of 120,000 metric tons per year of barrel cheese and belongs to the Glanbia group .

Geography

Gooding is located at (42.937097, -114.713480),GR: 1 near the confluence of the Big Wood River and Little Wood River, which form the Malad River

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the censusGR: 2 of 2000, there were 3,384 people, 1,304 households, and 842 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,461.0 people per square mile (946.8/km²). There were 1,397 housing units at an average density of 1,016.0/sq mi (390.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.51% White, 0.15% African American, 1.60% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 5.97% from other races, and 2.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.80% of the population.

There were 1,304 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,316, and the median income for a family was $33,309. Males had a median income of $24,688 versus $16,926 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,752. About 12.4% of families and 17.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

There are five schools based in Gooding; four in the Gooding Joint School District and the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind. Petitions to build a charter school are in the legistlature.

Gooding Joint School District

The Gooding Joint School District operates four schools: Gooding Elementary School, Gooding Middle School, Gooding Accelerated Learning Center, and Gooding High School.