- In Steamboat Springs, Colorado, even high-earners are being priced out, NBC reported.
- The city manager said two people turned down a six-figure job after not being able to find housing.
- Steamboat Springs is one of many ski towns in the West facing skyrocketing housing costs.
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 find an affordable place to live.
A recent report from NBC News detailed how even high earners in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, can't afford to live there, and it's affecting the city government. Gary Suiter, the Steamboat Springs city manager, told the outlet that the town has been unable to hire a head of human resources, with two candidates turning down the job because they couldn't find affordable housing, despite the prospect of a 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 in part by the rise of remote work, which attracts people from more expensive cities.
It's not just city employees that are affected. Even doctors looking for million-dollar homes are getting outbid, with the local hospital being unable to fill some positions. A ski resort is also putting up some of its employees in a hotel it's leasing, NBC reported, because many of them can't afford local rents.
"Houses used to be for employees and hotels for guests. Now houses are for guests and hotels are for employee housing," Loryn Duke, the 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, such as 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, the chair of the board of county commissioners in Teton County, where Driggs is located, told the outlet that 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.
