The chief city of the extensively irrigated upper Snake valley, Idaho Falls is the prosperous commercial and processing center of a livestock, dairy, and farm region that produces potatoes, wheat, sugar beets, and seed peas. Concrete, steel, and lumber are manufactured.
Tourism is important since the city lies near several national parks and major recreational areas.
Nearby Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, a national reactor testing station, is also a principal source of employment. Idaho Falls was originally a miner's fording point over the Snake River, first settled by Mormons. The city has a vocational-technical college. Several annual rodeos are held in Idaho Falls.