Jackson Hole: Richest County in the United States

The federal government recently released its annual rankings of the most affluent counties in the United States. There are two different reports, and both put Teton County, Wyoming at the top.

The first report is from the Internal Revenue Service, which uses the income reported on tax returns as their data source. The second report is the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which takes in data from a variety of sources, including the value of real estate. Both reports conclude that in 2007, Teton County was the wealthiest county in the United States, when measured on a per capita basis.

Manhattan (NYC), and Aspen, Colorado are the only other areas in the country to come close, both in terms of average income per person and in terms of the value of real estate.

It will be interesting to see how these rankings change, if at all, for 2008 and 2009, as real estate values in Jackson Hole peaked in 2007, and began a precipitous fall in the last half of 2008, continuing on through the Spring of 2009. Values have also plummeted in Colorado and New York.

Tim Bradley is an owner of Contour Investment Properties, the only brokerage firm in Jackson exclusively focused on commercial and investment property in Jackson Hole and Teton Valley. Tim has earned the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute as well as the CCIM designation from the CCIM Institute.

Tim Bradley
Owner/Broker
Contour Investment Properties
220 East Broadway
PO Box 1152
Jackson, WY 83001
(307) 733-6400
www.contourproperties.com