Big Sky is a playground for some of the country’s most affluent, but the area has a big problem when it comes to affordability for the workforce that keeps it running.
“People need a safety net,” said Jill Holder, Food & Nutrition Director for the HRDC, an organization helping to tackle food and housing insecurity in the community. “There’s no way to, you know, to get by on just a service industry job wage in this area.
The average median income for service industry workers in Big Sky is approximately $35,000, about a third of the average median income for the community at large, which is approximately $94,000.
Yet service industry jobs are the backbone of Big Sky’s local economy. The area’s three largest industries are hospitality, retail and recreation. But a rising cost of living and soaring prices for housing have left many of these employees unable to afford to live where they work.
Read full story on NBC Montana.