As many rural communities struggle to deal with a jump in housing prices, it’s apparently gotten so bad in one Colorado town that a $167,000 salary isn’t enough to solve the problem.
A recent report from NBC News details how even high earners in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, can’t afford to live there, and it’s impacting the city government. City Manager Gary Suiter told the outlet that the town has been unable to hire a human resources chief, with two candidates turning down the job because they couldn’t find affordable housing, despite the prospect of an over-six-figure salary.
Steamboat Springs, located in northwest Colorado about three hours from Denver, is among the many small towns dealing with climbing housing costs driven by the rise of remote work attracting folks from cities as well as increases in the short-term rental market.
It’s not just city employees that are impacted. Even doctors looking for million-dollar homes are getting outbid, with the local hospital unable to fill some positions. A ski resort is also putting its employees up in a leased hotel, NBC reported, because some employees can’t afford to rent.
“Houses used to be for employees and hotels for guests. Now houses are for guests and hotels are for employee housing,” Loryn Duke, communications director at the Steamboat ski resort, told the outlet.
Locals are getting priced out of ski towns across the American West, Business Insider’s Jordan Pandy previously reported. In Colorado, the situation in already-expensive ski towns, like Vail and Aspen, only got worse when housing prices skyrocketed during the pandemic. Other places, like Driggs, Idaho, are dealing with a high-priced market for the first time.
“These once-quiet communities have undergone a remarkable transformation,” Luke Smith, an associate broker with Engel & Völkers Jackson Hole, told The Wall Street Journal last year.
Cindy Riegel, chairman of the Board of Commissioners in Teton County, where Driggs is located, told the outlet existing residents went from “living comfortably to survival mode” and that some have packed up and left because they could no longer afford it.
In Steamboat Springs, the problem has sparked a major housing battle, with disagreements over how to address the issues, NBC reported.
