JACKSON HOLE, WYO – Okay, two recent outside media sources have confirmed what we in Jackson Hole already know, but it is always interesting to see outsiders’ take on us.
First, there was the extensive feature story by Frederick Reimers of Outside titled, “4 People with Very Different Incomes on Living in the World’s Most Expensive Ski Town.” Reimers managed to wrangle four disparate Holers from various stages of economic welfare and their individual walks in life—ranging from $30k to $200k in their annual earnings.
“Jackson, Wyoming, is a world-class adventure playground…It’s also a tax haven…In addition to the highest income, Teton County also has the greatest wealth disparity in the country…This exacerbates what has always been a hugely difficult housing situation in Jackson,” Reimers wrote. “[W]e asked four residents at different income levels how they make it work in the nation’s wealthiest, most housing-crunched ski town.”
The resulting candid interviews end up highlighting the individual concerns of four distinct social classes in Jackson, where the Haves and Have Nots are squeezing out the Have Barely Enoughs.
The latest look at Teton County’s bounty came today from Fortune. The piece by Chris Matthews ran under the headline: “This Playground for the Rich Is the Most Economically Unequal City in America.”
It referred to what is now very old news for anyone who’s lived in Jackson Hole long enough to know we have two zip codes, four major grocery stores, and about 5,000 banks—an Economic Policy Institute study that pegged Teton County as the nation’s most economically out-of-balance place in America.
Matthews wrote, “Jackson [is] way ahead of the next-most-unequal metro area in America: the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area in Connecticut. Those Connecticut cities however—known for being a hub of hedge fund wealth—are probably a less surprising place than a tiny city in a state that ranks 49th out of 50 in gross state product.
