Michael Ofjord of AllMusic called Boomtown an "artful record, full of poetry and convincing stories of the hard times that many silently endured."

He gave the record four and a half out of five stars, concluding that "one may not want to listen to this record to lift the spirit, but it is a strong reminder of difficult situations faced during what can be perceived by many as the best of times.

"[4] At the time of its release, Boomtown had some commercial success, peaking at number 39 on the chart in December.

[6] Its singles, "Welcome to the Boomtown", "Swallowed by the Cracks" and "Ain't So Easy", all received airplay, especially on rock-formatted radio stations, and most of them charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although Baerwald and Ricketts would go on to co-write some of the material for Sheryl Crow's debut album, the duo pursued divergent musical paths with Baerwald developing his solo career and Ricketts working with singer Toni Childs.