Boise is the headquarters of Albertsons LLC, Idaho Power, Micron Technology, Simplot, Washington Group International, and WinCo Foods. Hewlett-Packard has a large complex in Boise which specializes in scanners and printers and is one of the largest private employers in the area, second only to Micron. Other high-tech employers include Sybase and Microsoft, which recently purchased locally-owned ProClarity. Boise also has a thriving in-bound technical call centers such as Teleperformance USA which boasts clients such as Apple and Cingular. Qwest, T-Mobile and DirecTV are also major player's in the call-center industry in Boise.

Varney Airlines, founded by Walter Varney, was formed in Boise. The company is the root of present day United Airlines, which still serves the city.

As of the census of 2000, there were 185,787 people, 74,438 households, and 46,523 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,124.7/km² (2,913.1/mi²). There were 77,850 housing units at an average density of 471.3/km² (1,220.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.15% White, 0.77% Black or African American, 0.70% Native American, 2.08% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 1.74% from other races, and 2.39% from two or more races. 4.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 74,438 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,432, and the median income for a family was $52,014. Males had a median income of $36,893 versus $26,173 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,696. About 5.9% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Boise and its surrounding metropolitan area have seen dramatic growth through the 1990s and 2000s. The Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) puts Boise's population as of 2005 at just more than 208,000 people. That is up 11 percent from the 2000 Census figures below.

As of 2004 the city of Boise estimated the metropolitan area (Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell) had a population of 526,656. 

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