MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. — A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 3.8 million visitors to Yellowstone National Park in 2020 spent over $444 million in communities near the park.
According to the report, that spending supported 6,110 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $560 million.
The data reflects 2020, when the park was closed on March 24 due to COVID-19. The two Wyoming entrances opened on May 18 and the three Montana entrances opened on June 1.
Grand Teton National Park released data on June 12, from the same study. According to the report, in 2020, about 3.3 million people visited Grand Teton National Park, spending over $598 million in communities near the park.
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists with the NPS and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The report shows $14.5 billion of direct spending by more than 237 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 234,000 jobs nationally; 194,400 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $28.6 billion.
