A bison stands in front of Mount Moran, north of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Many of the richest cities in the world … [+]
In a series of recent studies, we analyzed and identified the richest cities in a few Rocky Mountain states. These included the richest cities in Colorado and Utah. Now we focus on one of their neighbors; the least populated state in the United States: Wyoming.
We analyzed more than 200 cities across the state to identify the richest cities in Wyoming. How we evaluated and scored each city’s ranking is detailed below. Read on to find out which is the richest city in Wyoming, as well as the 50 richest cities in the state as a whole.
What is the richest city in Wyoming?
In order to compile a list of the richest cities in Wyoming, we pulled data from the Census Bureau 2022 American Community Surveyand we’ve built a four-factor rating system to help identify the wealthiest cities in Wyoming:
- Median household income
- Average (average) household income
- Median home value
- Median property taxes paid
When it comes to census data, for some factors their numbers have upper bounds. For example, for median household income, the Census Bureau has an upper limit of “$250,000+.” For the median home value, the upper limit is “$2,000,000+”. And finally, for median property taxes paid, the upper limit is “$10,000+.” For these reasons, the mean or average household income data set is especially important because the Census Bureau has accurate numbers on it. These four metrics were scored, added, and then ranked based on the cities’ combined scores.
50 Richest Cities in Wyoming
Below is a table detailing the 50 richest cities in Wyoming and their respective dollar figures for each measure:
The wealthiest city in Wyoming in our rankings is Hoback, a census-designated place (CDP) of 830 households, located in the Jackson micropolitan area. Indeed, the Jackson Hole Gun Club is just outside of Hoback to the north. No surprise for Wyoming’s richest city, according to United States data, the main profession in terms of employment is that of management professions, which represents 26.2% of the active population. Hoback’s top three industries are construction (23.2% of the workforce), health care and social assistance (17.3% of the workforce), and retail trade (12.7%). Hoback’s median household income is $130,236, while its average household income is the highest among the 200+ Wyoming cities we analyzed, at $195,161. The median reported home value in Hoback is $930,700 – the third highest in Wyoming – and the median property taxes paid by households are $4,188 per year.
The second richest city in Wyoming is South Park, which, like Hoback, is located in Teton County and is part of the Jackson micropolitan area. South Park is home to the chic 3 Creek Golf Club, as well as Jackson Hole High School and Jackson Hole Classical Academy. South Park’s median home value is just under $1.33 million, which is the highest in Wyoming, and its median property taxes paid are the second highest, at $7,363 per year. While 13 cities have median household incomes higher than South Park’s $99,907, South Park’s average household income is the second highest in Wyoming, at $163,152. So these four factors combined, not just median household income, are why South Park is the second richest city in the world. Wyoming.
A clear geographic pattern is developing here: Wyoming’s third-wealthiest city is Moose Wilson Road, another city located in Teton County and, more specifically, in the Jackson micropolitan area. Moose Wilson Road’s median household income — $96,056 — isn’t one of the most impressive numbers. Instead, it’s the average household income, which at $162,057 makes it the third highest in Wyoming. Additionally, the reported median home value in Moose Wilson Road is well over $1.22 million, the second highest in Wyoming. The gap between Moose Wilson Road’s median household income and the average household income suggests that income inequality could be a problem here. And in fact, according to Census According to the data, the Gini index of income inequality in Moose Wilson Road is 0.5165 compared to 0.4818 for the United States as a whole (the Gini index ranges from 0 – representing perfect equality income – to 1, which represents total income inequality).
