Godby has seen evidence of that spiral in Laramie, Wyoming. “It’s going to increase the cost of living and make everything in these communities more expensive,” said Rod Godby, a professor of economics at the University of Wyoming. Higher housing costs mean employers have to pay higher wages. “Places that have mountains and lakes and rivers are experiencing unprecedented increases in housing prices,” she said. And those digital nomads can afford to spend a lot more on housing than locals. Lawson said a lot of people have used the newfound flexibility of remote work to move someplace with a view. “Unaffordable housing touches every aspect of the economy and life in these communities.” “It’s cuckoo here,” said Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics who lives in Bozeman, Montana. So, it adds up that the index is running hottest in the Mountain West. The cost of housing accounts for a third of the CPI. It was running at an annual rate of 6% in March, a whole percentage point higher than the national average. That includes the upper Rocky Mountain states of Montana and Wyoming, all the way down into Arizona and New Mexico.Īnnual inflation peaked at over 10% last year in that part of the country. One region where inflation’s been running extra hot? The Mountain West. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the latest consumer price index Wednesday, a monthly read on inflation.īut that headline number will only tell part of the story, because how much more people are spending on food, housing, energy and everything else depends on where they live.

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