Planning commission talks housing needs

As the Saratoga Planning Commission continues to discuss affordable housing and short term rentals, they may be able to look to a recent report for some guidance.

In February, the Wyoming Community Development Authority released its 2024 Housing Needs Assessment. More than 300 pages long, the report breaks down the state into various regions with Carbon County included in the Central Region with Natrona and Converse counties. Chairperson McCall Burau led the planning commission through the report, focusing on statistics such as employment, rental costs and housing costs.

“The three leading employment industries are leisure and hospitality with 22% of our jobs, second is education and health, which is 19% of our jobs, and the third is trade, transportation and utilities at 17%,” said Burau.

Leisure and hospitality, as of 2022, provided 1,324 jobs while education and health provided 1,185 jobs and trade, transportation and utilities provided 1,036 jobs. According to the report, wages in leisure and hospitality grew from $16,361 per year in 2010 to $30,000 in 2022. Education and health services increased from $37,477 to $46,641 in the same time period.

“Overall, all of them—excluding manufacturing—are around $47,000 (per year),” said Burau. “When we talk about affordable housing, the majority of our population is making $45-$50,000 a year.”

The same report showed most industries in the central region could afford the median rent, with leisure and hospitality just barely barely hitting $827 per month rent in Carbon County.

“Most industries can afford rent, hospitality is just barely making it there. So, our biggest employer is barely making rent,” said Burau.

While most industries could afford the median rent in Carbon County, it was a different matter for the median home price. According to the report, only 9% of workers in the central region could afford to purchase a home. Data for Carbon County showed that with the median-home price of $225,000 only those employed in the manufacturing industry—which included HF Sinclair—could afford the sales price. Education and health services could afford approximately $150,000 and leisure and hospitality could afford less than $100,000.

Data for Carbon County was even more stark when it came to the poverty rate and the discrepancy between homeowners and renters. According to the report, the poverty rate in Carbon County rose from 8% in 2010 to 15% in 2021. Meanwhile, the median income for an owner in Carbon County rose by 18% from $64,679 a year to $76,420 a year. The median income for a renter, however, dropped nearly 30% from $47,844 to $35,577. In Natron County, Converse County and Wyoming that number had increased instead of decreased.

The WCDA report also provided a snapshot by municipality. In Saratoga, the home value distribution increased. In 2010, 50% of the home value distribution was in the range of $100,000 to $199,000 while, in 2021, 52% of the home value distribution was in the range of $200,000 to $299,000.

“I thought this was interesting as to what is affordable for our local economy,” said Burau. “I think a lot of houses are being purchased by retired people or people not part of the local economy who are working at a low wage.”

Additionally, the report showed a change in the percentage of principal residence home purchases compared to second residence and investment property purchases. In 2018, primary residence purchases in Carbon County were at 92% but dropped to 89% in 2022. Investment property purchases, meanwhile, increased from less than 1% to 5% and second residence purchases decreased from 7% to 6%.

The report also touched on short term rentals in the central region. Saratoga, with 69 short term rentals as of 2023, had the second highest density of short term rentals.

“Saratoga’s STR units, which may be active or inactive at the time of reporting, account for 4.7% of its total housing stock,” read the report. “This suggests that short-term rentals may constrain housing supply in Saratoga.”

According to the report, 86% of the short term rentals in Carbon County are entire homes, 13% are private rooms and less than 1% are shared rooms. Most of the short term rentals in Carbon County are two-bedroom homes, at 35%, with three-bedroom homes following at 26%.

Finally, the report showed the projected housing needs between 2021 and 2030 by area median income with two different estimates. In Carbon County, the estimate for renters ranged between 21 units and 179 units while for homeowners it ranged between 50 units and 431 units.