Pitkin County labor, earning demographics contribute to tight housing market

Sixty-two percent of the Pitkin County workforce commutes in and out of the county every day. Twenty-four percent of workers travel more than 50 miles — in one direction — during their daily commute.

Skyrocketing housing prices, an increasing retired population, and a declining workforce contribute to a housing crunch that is bad and getting worse, according to Hannah-Hunt Wander, Planning and Zoning Commision senior long range planner, who presented 25 years of data to the Pitkin County Commission on Tuesday.

“There are fewer people in the workforce, and increased demand on services,” she said.

Pitkin County’s 2024 cost of living sits at 220.4% of the national average and is 95% higher than the rest of the state, according to data gathered by planning and zoning.

“And the majority of that is really driven by housing costs,” she said of the cost of living estimate.

The 2024 mean value of a single family home in Pitkin County was $13.3 million and the median value was $8.3 million, according to the Land Title Guarantee Company. Garfield County’s mean value was $935,000 and median value was $611,000, and Eagle County’s mean value was $2.8 million and median value was $1.3 million.

The average price of a single family home in Pitkin County increased by 183% between 2018 and 2024.

But salaries have not followed the cost of living over the past 25 years in Pitkin County. The wage required for a family of four to adequately live in the county increased from $50,752 to $148,512, a 192% increase. 

“Which means what it takes to make a living,” Wander said. “That’s housing, that’s education, that’s food, that’s transportation.”

But the actual median wage for the same group only increased from $62,190 to $111,291, a 78%  jump, leaving a $37,200 wage gap, according to data gathered by planning and zoning.

Most of the wealth in the county doesn’t come from labor, according to Wander. Sixty-eight percent of wealth in Pitkin County comes from non-labor income, or people who are not actively working, while 32% comes from labor earnings. 

“That’s the inverse of what’s happening nationally,” Wander said. 

Non-labor earnings increased 165.2% from 2000 to 2022 while labor earnings increased only 13.2% during the same period, data shows.

The white population, the county’s majority demographic, is aging out of the workforce, while most of the Latino population, estimated at 25% to 30% of the county, are prime working age, according to Wander and the commission.

Accommodations, food services, arts, entertainment, recreation, and public administration were some of the largest job sectors in early 2024, according to the commission.

The majority of labor versus non-labor earnings flipped in the early 2000s, according to planning and zoning.

“The people who are the wealthy people in Aspen, they’re not just multi-millionaires anymore. They’re billionaires,” Commissioner Francie Jacober said of the flip. “And so the amount of income that they get off of their invested money is so high compared to the income of our workforce that I think it skews those numbers considerably.”

Wealth inequality, lower ages, high cost of living and long commutes raise a number of mental and behavioral health challenges, Wander said. 

Pitkin County families experience The Cliff Effect, according to the commission, which occurs when their income increases enough to lose public assistance support programs, but not enough to afford certain necessities on their own, such as housing, food, and childcare. 

The seasonal nature of the workforce also creates a strain on the county, Wander said. The population can triple or quadruple for major tourist events, before dropping during the off season, which creates an increase in homelessness and more requests for public aid.

And relying on a work force outside of the county increases the risk of losing that workforce to other employment choices, Wander added.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.