Teton County Still Richest In The Nation; Wealth Hits New High

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Teton County Still Richest In The Nation; Wealth Hits New High
Teton County continues to be the nation’s wealthiest county with the mean household income at $1.13 miliion. The surge in wealth has contributed to a host of problems, including a lack of affordable housing.

Renée Jean
December 03, 2024
8 min read


Teton County, Wyoming, is again the nation's wealthiest, with a per capita income of more than $471,000 and median household income of $1.3 million. (Jackson Hole Sotheby's International Realty)

Teton County is continuing its run as the wealthiest in the nation, a trend now for the last 20 years. Per capita incomes in 2023 coasted to a new high of $471,751 — ever closer to a new milestone of half a million dollars. ... With census estimates of 2.4 people per household, that puts the mean income for a typical Jackson Hole household at $1.13 million — a figure that’s anything but typical for the rest of Wyoming. In fact, it’s not even typical for longtime or lifelong residents of Teton County.

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What’s more, Teton County’s per capita income doesn’t just lead the nation. It blows the rest of the nation away in terms of sheer wealth. ... The per capita income for America as a whole in 2023 was $69,810, according to Schechter’s analysis. The next nearest to Teton County’s wealth doesn’t even come within the ballpark of Teton County’s per capita income. ... That second place county, Summit County in Utah, has a per capita income of $259,993, just 55% of Teton County’s figure.

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A Trump Connection?

Another factor [Jackson Council Member and economist Jonathan Schechter] believes has been a contributing factor in Teton County’s wealth surge are the 2017 tax cuts that were enacted during the Trump administration. ... “Those tax cuts took effect in 2018 and were heavily tilted towards the wealthy,” Schechter wrote in his analysis.

Based on housing and income data going back to 2001, Schechter’s analysis shows Jackson Hole housing prices growing in line with wages for about two decades. ... But after Trump’s 2017 tax cuts kicked in, Jackson Hole home prices stopped following wages and started following something else — investment income. ... In the three years following the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackson Hole’s home prices and investment incomes have doubled, according to Schechter’s analysis. ... What didn’t double were wages for people who live and work in Jackson Hole’s location-dependent jobs. ... That’s a trend Schechter anticipates will get worse if Trump doubles down on more tax cuts for investment incomes.

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Renée Jean can be reached at [e-mail].