- Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is a luxury enclave for some of America’s wealthiest residents.
- The area is known for its extreme income inequality, with the top 1% earning vastly more.
- I visited Jackson Hole for the first time in 2024 to find out why the rich live and vacation there.
There’s a valley below the Teton mountain range where some of the wealthiest people in America kick back on their terraces and look out at a vast mountain landscape where mansions are hidden among the towering evergreen trees.
They have saunas in their houses and spend thousands on custom-made cowboy hats with diamond bands.
I’m talking about the wealthy enclave of Jackson Hole in Teton County, Wyoming — one of the richest counties in the US.
The town with the most unequal income in the US has long been a billionaire hideout. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the top 1% of residents in the metro area earn 132 times the income of the bottom 99% of residents. The average income of the top 1% sits above a cool $16 million.
A-listers from Kanye West and the Kardashians to Sandra Bullock and Harrison Ford have bought property in Jackson Hole.
Still, I visited the city for the first time in September 2024 to see what makes this place so coveted for high earners.
