The story often goes: you visit Jackson Hole/Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Park and fall in love with the area and never want to leave. You find yourself looking online for a home and are left wondering, “Why are the home prices in Jackson so high?”
The real estate market in the Jackson area is nuanced to say the least. Here are some important factors to help you understand the real estate landscape here:
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97% of all land in Teton County, WY has been federally protected, developed, or conserved, leaving us with a housing supply and demand issue.
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The median sale price of a home in Teton County, WY in 2020 was upwards of about $2.3M. (Wyoming is a non-disclosure state, meaning that its not required to disclose transaction prices)
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Median gross rent is $1,376/mo in Teton County. To put it into perspective, the median gross rent in the state of WY is $822/mo while the national average is $1,097/mo.
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According to 2019 US Census Estimates, there were roughly 13,848 housing units in Teton County, WY. (source: data.census.gov)
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Of those housing units, less than 11% are “affordable” to our local workforce through deed restrictions, rent restrictions, or other permanent protections, while an estimated 59% of our workforce lives in
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Teton County, Wyoming. (source: housingtrustjh.org)
Much of our local workforce resides in neighboring areas within Lincoln County, WY or Teton County, ID
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Lincoln County had around 9,421 housing units, average sales price of around $286,651 and average rent $852/mo in 2019.
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Teton Valley, ID had around 5,833 housing units, average sales price of around $340,492 and average rent of $881/mo in 2019.
In addition, Wyoming is a very tax friendly state, having no state income tax, no state gift tax, no inheritance or estate tax, and no capital gains tax. Those that want to live in the area and can afford to pay more for a home will often pay a premium to live in the area for the meaningful tax benefits residency in Wyoming provides.
With this being said, finding housing is not impossible – we’re here to help guide you through it and help find your new home in the Tetons!
