Central bank officials from across the world have descended upon Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week to discuss policy decisions that will shape the economy for years to come.
But as they talk about inflation and the economy in the abstract, residents of the popular vacation destination are very much feeling the realities of their policies. That’s because Jackson Hole is the most economically unequal place in the United States, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The snow-kissed peaks and verdant valleys of Jackson Hole, Wyoming — where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to give a highly anticipated speech on Friday — aren’t just awe-inspiring. They’re also symbolic.
Among the top 1% in Teton County (where Jackson Hole is located), the average annual income is a jaw-dropping $22.5 million. The median household income in Teton County in 2021, meanwhile, was about $94,000, according to the US Census Bureau.
The annual August symposium of global financial leaders and economic elites wouldn’t happen without the servers, cooks, drivers and hotel and event staff who make it function — the same people feeling the hard impact of elevated inflation, high interest rates and a softening economy the most.
“If you look at income, Jackson Hole is really a microcosm of the nation’s wealth inequalities laid out across these dramatic landscapes of the Mountain West,” said Kenan Fikri, director of research at The Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan policy organization. “It’s a ground zero for understanding how inflation affects the budgets of lower-earning households when they’re already financially stressed.”