In Teton County, average, median incomes highlight gulf between the loaded, lacking

Median income says more about commoner’s experience. Per capita tells story of the wealthiest.

JACKSON — At face value, Teton County and Loudoun County, Virginia, have very little in common.

With about 19 times as many people as Jackson Hole, Loudoun County contains suburbs of the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., and is home to some of the nation’s top government officials. Teton County, by comparison, is a mountain hamlet defined by its intact ecosystems, Western charm and rowdy skiing.

“We’re probably as different from Jackson Hole as you can imagine,” said Tony Howard, president and CEO of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce.

But the two seemingly disparate communities share a label: “the richest county in America.”

Measured by per capita income, a population’s average income, Jackson Hole reigns supreme. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ data for 2024, Teton County’s per capita income was $532,903.

But measured by median household income — the middle income that separates the highest 50% of earners from the lowest 50% — Loudoun County takes the cake with a median family income of $170,463, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 figures.

That’s far above Teton County’s median family income of $108,279, which is high but not even in the top 10 nationwide. In fact, Teton County only ranks 68th when it comes to median family income, behind Summit County, Utah, in 15th and Orange County, California, in 64th.

In the past few weeks, talking heads in Jackson Hole and farther afield have debated whether the average or the median paints a better picture of the valley. But the debate about which figure is better may be besides the point. Instead, the two numbers together paint a picture, said Derek Kellenberg, an economics professor at the University of Montana. The chasm between Jackson Hole’s median income and its per capita income is a telling indicator of inequality.

“If you have an average income that is much higher than the median income, it indicates that there are likely wealth inequalities within the community,” Kellenberg said

Neither per capita income nor median household income is a definitively better measure of wealth, Kellenberg said.

The two data points do tell you different things. Median income is a better gauge of what most people are experiencing. But per capita income can be more telling when it comes to explaining more generally how much money is in a community. The gap between the two is telling in its own way, Kellenberg said.

Here at home

Statistically, raft guides, ski instructors, teachers and plumbers are dragging Teton County’s median income down. In contrast, very wealthy people who primarily earn their income elsewhere are exploding per capita income figures, said Wenlin Liu, Wyoming’s chief economist.

“Teton County, relatively speaking, has more multi-millionaires, more billionaires,” Liu said. “It’s just skewed the average so high.”

Summit County, home to Park City, is also very wealthy and has a relatively small population. But, Liu said, Teton County’s richest are richer than the richest in other places.

Because the county’s population — about 23,000 people — is so small, it does not take many well-to-do people to slant per capita income skywards, said Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce President Rick Howe.

“Per capita income in Teton County is skewed by a half dozen to a dozen people who have done very well for themselves,” Howe said. “That’s great that they were able to achieve that financial success.”

People sometimes call the Chamber of Commerce assuming that most people in Jackson Hole earn around half a million dollars a year, Howe said. Chamber officials then have to explain the intricacies.

Far away

Thousands of miles away in Virginia, data centers are Loudoun County’s “internationally recognized claim to fame,” said Howard, the county chamber leader.

The county has 50 million square feet of data center development, facilities that house IT infrastructure. The county is also home to the Washington Dulles International Airport and lots of jobs in the technology industry and technology-related government contracting. There are also plenty of jobs in health care, accounting, lawyering, education, retail and hospitality.

“We don’t build tanks or bombs or ships here,” Howard said.

But the cost of living is also high. Loudoun County residents are “hustling” but also spending a lot of money to live where they do, Howard said. Like Jackson Hole, Loudoun County sees a lot of commuters, drawn by high wages in Loudoun County but cheaper living elsewhere.

One of Howard’s most proud moments as a professional was convincing the chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors — a Teton County Board of County Commissioners equivalent — to stop calling Loudoun County “the richest” county. There is a difference between wealth and income and Howard saw the change of labels as an acknowledgement that many people are both earning and spending a lot.

Wealth is a good thing, Howard said.

“I’m a chamber of commerce guy,” he said. “There is much more good than harm that comes with that.”

Different strokes

Pundits of news articles highlighting Jackson Hole’s wealth and wealth inequality differ on how they believe wealth should be measured. Town councilor and economist Jonathan Schechter penned a “CoThrive” newsletter in February highlighting Teton County’s astounding per capita income. This year marked the 21st consecutive year Teton County has topped the list. But in just the past decade, its wealth has exploded to new heights.

In 2018, the county’s per capita income was a now relatively meager but still nation-leading $214,496, less than half what it is now.

Count all the elk on the National Elk Refuge and all the county’s dogs as people, and Teton County still beats out second place Summit County, Schechter wrote in his newsletter.

But per capita income figures aren’t indicative of the everyday experience of a person living in Jackson Hole, said Paul Hansen, a career conservationist who writes the News&Guide’s “Common Ground” column.

Hansen wrote a column criticizing media outlets for misrepresenting income statistics by highlighting per capita income and neglecting to mention less attention-grabbing median income figures. The New York Times recently highlighted Jackson Hole to drive home a point about how President Donald Trump’s tax cuts have widened the divide between the rich and poor.

“The median income much more accurately describes the situation on the ground here in Jackson,” Hansen said in an interview. “There are a handful of people that are very, very wealthy.”

The normal people who have “scrimped and saved” to make it work in Jackson Hole are a better indicator of the community’s character than the ultra-wealthy, Hansen said.

For his part, Schechter said he has repeatedly highlighted per capita figures to try to tell a story about housing. Wealth pouring into Teton County has driven up housing costs to insurmountable sums for everyday earners, Schechter said. Rich people are buying up homes, Jackson Hole’s “scarcest resource,” exacerbating a long-standing problem, Schechter said.

“We have had an affordable housing crisis for 20-plus years,” Schechter said. “The crisis seems to be getting worse and worse.”

That isn’t likely to stop, Kellenberg, the Montana economist, said. Wyoming, like Florida, has no income tax, making it a good place to park your money without paying Uncle Sam, especially if you have a lot of it.

“When you have a place that has incredibly high quality of life, amenity values and no taxes, it’s a place that wealthy individuals are going to want to locate,” Kellenberg said.

This story was published on March 25, 2026.