Boise State Public Radio posted an interesting article today, about public and private employers across the state. It’s definitely worth a look, since Emilie Ritter Saunders worked up a cool and clickable map that lets you see the top five employers in your county.

I got interested in her findings, gleaned from data submitted to the Idaho Department of Labor in 2013. So I started looking at the employment impacts of public schools.

And that’s interesting too. A few highlights:

• A public school district ranks as one of the top five employers in all 44 counties.
• As Saunders already pointed out in her article, a school district is the top employer in 16 counties. Most of these are smaller, rural counties, but there are exceptions — such as Canyon County, where the Nampa School District is the biggest employer.
• In some cases, school districts hire more workers than some prominent private-sector employer. For instance, both the Bonneville and Idaho Falls school districts hire more employees than Melaleuca Inc., and the Coeur d’Alene School District hires more employees than Hagadone Hospitality.
• In 10 counties — including Ada, Canyon and Bonneville counties — school districts accounted for two of the county’s top five employers.

Here are the county-by-county results for school districts, with county rankings and employment figures in parentheses).

Ada: Meridian School District (third, 4,200-4,299 employees); Boise School District (fourth, 3,700-3,799 employees).

Adams: Council School District (fourth, 50-59 employees); Meadows Valley School District (fifth, 40-49 employees).

Bannock: Pocatello School District (second, 1,500-1,599 employees).

Bear Lake: Bear Lake School District (second, 150-199 employees).

Benewah: St. Maries Joint School District (third, 150-199 employees).

Bingham: Blackfoot School District (fourth, 500-599 employees).

Blaine: Blain County School District (second, 600-699 employees).

Boise: Basin School District (fourth, 70-79 employees); Horseshoe Bend School District (40-49 employees).

Bonner: Lake Pend Oreille School District (first, 600-699 employees).

Bonneville: Idaho Falls School District (first, 1,300-1,399 employees); Bonneville Joint School District (second, 1,300-1,399 employees).

Boundary: Boundary County School District (first, 200-299 employees).

Butte: Butte County School District (fifth, 70-79 employees).

Camas: Camas County School District (second, 40-49 employees).

Canyon: Nampa School District (first, 1,500-1,599 employees); Vallivue School District (fifth, 800-899 employees).

Caribou: Soda Springs School District (third, 100-149 employees).

Cassia: Cassia County Joint School District (first, 700-799 employees).

Clark: Clark County School District (second, 40-49 employees).

Clearwater: Orofino Joint School District (first, 200-299 employees).

Custer: Challis Joint School District (third, 90-99 employees); Mackay Joint School District (fourth, 40-49 employees).

Elmore: Mountain Home School District (second, 400-499 employees).

Franklin: Preston School District (first, 300-399 employees); West Side School District (third, 100-149 employees).

Fremont: Fremont County Joint School District (first, 300-399 employees).

Gem: Emmett Joint Independent School District (first, 400-499 employees).

Gooding: Wendell School District (third, 150-199 employees); Gooding Joint School District (fourth, 150-199 employees).

Idaho: Mountain View School District (second, 150-199 employees).

Jefferson: Jefferson County Joint School District (first, 500-599 employees).

Jerome: Jerome Joint School District (first, 400-499 employees).

Kootenai: Coeur d’Alene School District (second, 1,300-1,399 employees).

Latah: Moscow School District (second, 400-499 employees).

Lemhi: Salmon School District (first, 150-199 employees).

Lewis: Kamiah Joint School District (second, 150-199 employees).

Lincoln: Shoshone Joint School District (second, 90-99 employees).

Madison: Madison School District (second, 700-799 employees).

Minidoka: Minidoka County Joint School District (first, 500-599 employees).

Nez Perce: Lewiston Independent School District (fourth, 700-799 employees).

Oneida: Oneida County School District (first, 150-199 employees).

Owyhee: Homedale School District (third, 150-199 employees); Marsing School District (fourth, 100-149 employees).

Payette: Payette Joint School District (fourth, 200-299 employees); Fruitland School District (fifth, 200-299 employees).

Power: American Falls Joint School District (third, 200-299 employees).

Shoshone: Kellogg Joint School District (third, 200-299 employees).

Teton: Teton County Joint School District (first, 200-299 employees).

Twin Falls: Twin Falls School District (third, 1,000-1,099 employees).

Valley: McCall-Donnelly School District (fourth, 150-199 employees).

Washington: Weiser School District (first, 200-299 employees).