Jackson, WY

Jackson’s housing market is far above the retiree target budget, with a 2024 ACS-based median home value cited at about $1.5M in local demographic summaries (MyTownView^[1]). Teton County’s residential property assessment rate is 9.5% of fair market value, and the county says the average mill levy is about 57 mills, or roughly $5.70 per $1,000 of appraised value (Teton County Property Tax^[2]) (Teton County Determining Property Tax^[3]). Wyoming has no state income tax, and Jackson is subject to the state sales tax regime rather than a city income tax, while the county assessor notes a long-term homeowner exemption that can cut assessed value for qualifying primary residences (Teton County Long-Term Homeowner Exemption^[4]).

St. John’s Health operates Jackson’s main hospital at 625 East Broadway and Medicare lists it as an acute-care hospital that provides emergency services (St. John’s Hospital location^[5]) (Medicare Care Compare, St Johns Medical Center^[6]). St. John’s says it offers primary care plus cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, joint health, spine health, and cancer care, which is a solid range for a town this size (St. John’s Health home^[7]). For highly specialized or tertiary care, retirees should expect to travel beyond Jackson, because the local system is concentrated in one community hospital rather than a large multi-campus metro network (St. John’s locations^[8]).

At Jackson Hole Airport, the climate is described as dry, mostly clear, and warm in summer, with freezing, snowy winters; the average high in July is about 79°F and the average low in January is about 6°F (WeatherSpark Jackson Hole Airport^[9]). The same source says the warm season lasts about 3.0 months, from June 13 to September 14, and the cold season lasts about 3.6 months, from November 19 to March 6 (WeatherSpark Jackson Hole Airport^[9]). NOAA/NWS places Jackson Hole Airport at an elevation of about 6,401 feet, which helps explain the strong seasonality and the need to plan for snow and temperature swings (NWS Jackson, Jackson Hole Airport^[10]).

The available county-level FBI Crime Data Explorer summary for Teton County says the county is served by two law-enforcement agencies and shows a five-year violent-crime rate of 41.5 per 100,000 residents and a property-crime rate of 21.3 per 100,000 residents, both far below national averages in that summary (FBI Crime Explorer, Teton County^[11]). The same page covers 2019 to 2024 totals, but it does not substitute for a full city-agency reporting series if a local department is missing or incomplete, so the county figure is the most defensible public number here (FBI Crime Explorer, Teton County^[11]). Based on that county snapshot, reported crime looks comparatively low, but retirees should still verify current reporting status before relying on year-to-year trend claims (FBI Crime Explorer, Teton County^[11]).

Jackson’s median listing home price was about $4.07M in the latest Realtor.com market summary, and the same report put median days on market at 64 days, with year-over-year listing-price growth of 13.33% (Realtor.com^[12]). Keller Williams Jackson Hole said buyer demand remained strongest in the single-family segment and that inventory was essentially unchanged from a year earlier at 283 properties, which supports a thin resale pool for conventional single-family homes (Keller Williams Jackson Hole^[13]). For 55+ or active-adult housing, the evidence only clearly identified Morningstar of Jackson Hole as a 55-and-over senior housing community in Jackson, so purpose-built active-adult supply appears limited in the sourced material (Senior Guidance^[14]).

The nearest commercial airport is Jackson Hole Airport, which sits at high elevation and is the obvious airport for Jackson-area residents (NWS Jackson, Jackson Hole Airport^[10]). The airport is the main local option for flying out to hubs, but the specific direct-flight schedule is not given here. For retirement planning, the practical takeaway is that air access is local and useful, but it is not the kind of large-network airport experience you get in a major metro (NWS Jackson, Jackson Hole Airport^[10]).

Jackson Hole is a destination market for golfers, but a clean public-government count of public courses within 30 minutes is not given here. The town is especially attractive for retirees who want golf plus year-round outdoor recreation, because the area is built around hiking, skiing, fishing, and scenic public lands rather than only club golf. For golf pricing and course options in Jackson, WY, no numeric claim is given here.

Jackson’s population is 10,756 and its median age is 35.3 in ACS-based summaries, which signals a town that skews younger than typical retirement destinations (Census Reporter profile^{[15?] (unconfirmed source)}). The town is also the county seat and the only incorporated municipality in Teton County, which helps explain why downtown services, civic life, and everyday errands are concentrated in a small footprint (MyTownView Jackson demographics^[1]). For retirees, that means a very walkable core and strong amenity density for a town of its size, but also a community shaped heavily by tourism and seasonal traffic (Census Reporter profile^{[15?] (unconfirmed source)}).

Teton County is relatively low risk overall, with major exposure driven by avalanche, lightning, inland flood, earthquake, and wildfire-related hazards (FEMA National Risk Index^[16]) (Teton County Wyoming risk summary^[17]). Teton County’s wildfire and earthquake components are still meaningful, so a low composite score should not be read as no-risk living (Teton County Wyoming risk summary^[17]). On air quality, Teton County warns that smoke can reduce outdoor air quality and advises residents that wildfire smoke can make the area less healthy during smoke events, especially for older adults and people with respiratory conditions (Teton County Outdoor Air Quality^[18]) (EPA wildland fires and smoke^[19]).