The Moonshine Ink, Truckee and Lake Tahoe's Independent newspaper, just started a series of articles on the region's housing crisis and some of the statistics are alarming. We've been following the affordable housing crisis in ski towns for a while now, whether it's Vail Resorts' recent announcement that the company will spend $30 million on the problem or how tiny homes might be just the thing to save ski towns everywhere. But the data on the Lake Tahoe region hasn't always been easy to find, making Moonshine Ink's latest story incredibly informative. One of the statistics that shocked us? The average cost of living in the Tahoe region is 10 times higher than the national average.
More on the ski town housing crisis:
The Median Rents of Ski Country's Most Popular Towns
Four Types of Programs Locals Can Use to Buy a Home in Ski Country
Telluride is Considering a Tiny Home Community
Why the Death of the Ski Bum Will Ruin Ski Towns Everywhere
The Moonshine Ink also reports that 45 percent of Tahoe residents pay 30 percent or more of their income to housing, and 18 percent of households are considered very low-income.
And like in most ski towns, 42.4 percent of the Tahoe workforce are in low-paying jobs, working in restaurants, hotels, and shops. Meanwhile, 65 percent of the homes in North Tahoe and Truckee usually sit vacant because they are second homes.
All of these numbers prove one thing: the ski town life is in crisis.
Head over to Moonshine Ink for 20 profiles of people struggling to "live the dream" in Tahoe.
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