The ability of the health system to continue providing services depends on having
workforce housing nearby. Teton County, WY voters successfully approve
the Hitching Post Workforce Rental Housing, On-Call Rooms, and Patient-Family
rooms on the November 8, 2022 SPET ballot.
Did You Know
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines “Affordable
Housing” as “Housing on which the occupant is paying no more
than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities”
Current Jackson market rental rates, as published by Jackson/Teton County
Affordable Housing, are $2,639/month for a studio/1 bedroom apartment
and $4,172/month for a 2 bedroom apartment
In order to afford these levels of rent and meet the definition of “affordable”,
an individual would need to have an annual income of $105,560 for a studio/1
BR apartment and $166,880 for a 2 BR apartment (based only on rent and
not considering utility costs)
St. John’s Health targets its wages for hourly employees to be in
the upper quartile of health care wages in the Mountain West, and the
upper 10% nationally. Despite this fact, only 11% of SJH employees can
afford a studio/1 BR apartment and 5% a 2 BR apartment. If we exclude
management and supervisory staff, these numbers drop to 4% for a studio/1
BR and .5% for a 2 BR apartment
The market is not responsive to the needs of essential health care workers.
St. John’s Health sets rents based on the individual employee’s
wage to meet the definition of “affordable.” It is critical
that St. John’s increase our availability of apartments for essential
health care workers so that they can have truly affordable rents
Health Depends on Housing
As of September 2022, 56% of our staff lives in the Jackson area. This
has declined by 6 percentage points in just the last year as staff are
faced with increasingly unaffordable options. Now, nearly 10% of all jobs
at SJH are currently vacant.
