JACKSON, Wyo. — The 2023 Indicator Report, produced by the Town of Jackson and Teton County, was presented to the Jackson Town Council and the Teton County Board of County Commissioners on March 27.
The annual report tracks various aspects of the Comprehensive Plan and how the goals are being met. The 2023 Indicator Report is based on data from 2022 or 2021, if 2022 is not yet available.
The Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan was adopted by town and county electeds in 2012 and updated in 2020. The plan “sets a community vision based on three common values of community character: ecosystem stewardship, growth management and quality of life.”
“The most rapidly changing characteristic of the community is wealth”
2023 Indicator Report
Housing
According to the report, 59% of the workforce lives locally, still short of the Comprehensive Plan goal of housing 65% of the workforce.
“There is still a shortage of workforce housing, but we also understand that the tools we have put in place are working,” states the report. “We know there is more than enough zoning potential to provide housing in complete neighborhoods without sacrificing natural resource protection – we can live our vision.”
Since 2019, home prices have grown 48% per year, relative to median income. Home sales are almost twice as expensive as they were at the height of the housing bubble in 2008, relative to what the median income can afford.
Rental costs have also grown 5% per year relative to median income. “Rentals have become less affordable because rents tend to track with the average wage, rather than the median income,” states the report. “More work is needed to understand how much time ‘permanent’ residents actually spend in the valley.”
“In 2019 the median home sale cost 1.6 times what the median household income could afford. In 2022 it cost 6.8 times.”
2023 Indicator Report
The Indicator Report tracks the workforce housing pipeline, which according to the report is growing at an all time high. “Of the 822 units in the pipeline, 309 have building permit approval, meaning they are likely to be occupied in 2023 or 2024,” the report states.
Economic growth
According to the report, the most rapidly changing characteristic of the community is wealth. While the COVID-19 pandemic drew an influx of wealth to the region, the biggest change occurred from 2002 to 2008 when per capita income grew 16% per year. In comparison, from 2019 to 2021, per capita income grew 7% per year.
The report cites the growth in income to high-paying finance and real estate jobs and the decrease in low-paying service jobs, but service jobs still have the largest share in the job market.
According to the report, finance and insurance jobs increased from 3,015 jobs in 2019 to 4,225 jobs in 2021, real estate-related jobs increased from 3,707 in 2019 to 4,422 in 2021 and accommodation and food service jobs decreased from 7,741 in 2019 to 6,956 in 2021.
“The number of people—measured in physical development, population, jobs and traffic— is growing at rates of less than 2% per year since 2019. At the same time GDP per capita, income per capita and home prices relative to income have grown at annual rates of 15%, 7% and 48% respectively,” states the report.
In 2019 the median home sale cost 1.6 times what the median household income could afford. In 2022 it cost 6.8 times. This drastic drop in affordability is attributed to the combination of rising prices and rising interest rates, reducing the purchasing power of the median income.
Seasonal occupancy rates in 2022 returned to pre-pandemic levels for October, January and July, while April remained well above average but still below the 2021 spike by about 20 percent.
START Bus
The report indicates a steep decline in ridership in 2020 and 2021, attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, but 2022 appears to be the beginning of the rebound.
According to the report, “the Integrated Transportation Plan (ITP) goal is for transit ridership to double from 900,000 in 2015 to 1.8 million in 2025, then double again to 3.6 million in 2035…to double ridership every ten years requires 7.1% compound annual growth, from 2015 to 2019 ridership was only growing at 4% annually.”
From 2015 to 2019 ridership in the summer grew at a rate of 8% annually, but winter ridership only grew 1% annually.
Traffic
The Indicator Report also includes information on average summer weekday traffic compared to corridor improvement benchmarks. Once benchmarks are reached, capital improvement projects are triggered.
After a decrease in WY22 traffic during the pandemic, 2022 saw the highest-ever count of summer weekday vehicles on that corridor with over 24,000 vehicles on average. The construction benchmark for WY22 is 20,000 vehicles.
North US89 weekday summer traffic was down compared to 2021 pandemic levels with about 1,000 fewer vehicles on average. The construction benchmark for this road is above 20,000 vehicles.
Moose-Wilson Road also saw a decrease in summer weekday traffic in 2022 with between 14,000 and 15,000 vehicles on average. Portions of the road were closed in 2022 and will be again this summer. The construction benchmark for the corridor is over 15,000 vehicles.
Wildlife collisions
According to the report, wildlife-vehicle collisions are used to measure the impacts of physical development, transportation growth and the communities ability to provide safe wildlife crossings.
Data from 2022 is not yet available but according to the report, over 150 wildlife-vehicle collisions occurred in 2021. 2017 had the most collisions since 2012 with over 350 recorded. The community goal is about 200 collisions.
The full 2023 Indicator Report is available here.
