A Hidden Wealth in the Heart of Wyoming
In Teton County, a remote stretch of northwest Wyoming surrounded by the Tetons and the Snake River, a new kind of wealth has taken root. This is not the flashy extravagance of places like Palm Beach or the Hamptons; instead, it’s a quiet, camouflaged affluence that masks staggering net worths. Here, billionaires can be found sipping coffee in faded denim and scuffed boots, driving aging Ford pickups, and walking their dogs along snow-dusted sidewalks.
The county is now the richest in the United States on a per-capita basis, with some residents boasting fortunes in the billions. The contrast between the rugged, modest appearance of the community and its underlying wealth is striking. For instance, the man in line at the local coffee shop might own a private jet, while the woman in hiking boots could have a fortune that has grown significantly since 2017.
Joe Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade, exemplifies this phenomenon. Raised in a Nebraska home without television or air conditioning, he started his brokerage firm with just $12,500 from friends and family. By 2015, he was a billionaire, and today, his estimated net worth is roughly $8 billion. Ricketts has also been involved in conservation efforts and donated to various causes, but his wealth has had a significant impact on local debates.
The broader trend reflects a growing disparity in America. A New York Times analysis of Federal Reserve and tax data found that the net worth of the richest Americans grew by 120% between 2017 and 2025. The number of U.S. billionaires increased by about 50%, surpassing 900. The top 1% now control an estimated $55.8 trillion in assets, more than the combined GDP of the U.S. and China.
In Teton County, the transformation has been especially stark. The top 1% of households have an average annual income of about $35 million, which is 221 times that of the bottom 99%. The average single-family home price last year climbed past $7 million. Economists attribute this growth to factors such as the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced corporate taxes, and the subsequent surge in asset prices.
During the pandemic, many wealthy investors bought assets at depressed prices, leading to massive gains when markets rebounded. UBS reported that the world’s billionaires added more than $2 trillion to their wealth in just four months after global shutdowns began. Remote work allowed executives to move away from traditional financial hubs, making Wyoming, with its lack of state income and real estate transfer taxes, an attractive destination.
In 2024, Wyoming’s conservative Freedom Caucus gained power in the state Legislature, approving a 25% property tax cut on a home’s first $1 million in value. Lawmakers also considered eliminating property taxes altogether, one of the few ways the state taxes wealth. Mike Yin, a Democratic state legislator representing Teton County, noted that these tax dollars covered essential services like schools, police, and hospitals.
Jonathan Schechter, a Jackson town council member, described the fiscal structure bluntly: “We sell hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate every day, and it’s not taxed.” He added that there’s no real-estate transfer tax, no income tax, and no taxation on investment income.
Despite the influx of wealth, basic services strain under the pressure. Dr. Brent Blue, the county coroner, conducts autopsies in a garage once used for pest control. April Norton, the county housing director, highlighted the imbalance: “We’ve added 4,300 jobs in the last 10 years, but only added 300 year-round residents.”
Workers commute from Idaho towns, and some seasonal employees live in their cars. Rosie Read, founder of the Wyoming Immigrant Advocacy Project, noted that immigrants working as housekeepers, dishwashers, and landscers cannot earn the roughly $150,000 a year needed to live comfortably in the area.
At Jackson Hole High School, overcrowded cafeterias and inaccessible facilities highlight the challenges. Meanwhile, the Jackson Hole Classical Academy, co-founded by the family of the late investor Foster Friess, moved into a 75,000-square-foot campus with new athletic fields and labs.
Despite all this, ostentation remains taboo. Unlike Palm Beach, where wealth is performed, Jackson’s elite blend in. They meet at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, ski, and fish, wearing denim and driving trucks. Margot Snowdon, a philanthropist who has lived in the county for nearly 50 years, emphasized the tension: “I remember a friend of mine bragging about us having the highest net worth in the country, and I said to him, ‘You know that means we also have the most inequality.’”
The county’s estimated wealth exceeds $14 billion, concentrated among fewer than 10,000 households. “It means we have so much money that people don’t have to care if they don’t want to,” Snowdon said. This tension surfaced during a July rally in Jackson’s town square honoring civil rights leader John Lewis, with signs calling for action on hunger before further tax cuts for billionaires.
Andrew Munz, who grew up in Jackson and is working to revive the Pink Garter Theatre downtown, pays $3,300 a month for a 495-square-foot townhouse. “I keep caring and honoring my own love for the place, and my own fight to preserve some semblance of my hometown,” he said. “That has been the biggest fight of the past decade.” Asked whether he felt he was winning, Munz answered simply, “No. I’m losing.”
