Best of both worlds
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4/26/2024
Not sure why the people relying to the negative comments with positive comments don't make their own reviews.
Gillette has the same problems that similarly-sized towns and cities in this region have: difficulty attracting good teachers, doctors, etc. Plus, some low-level property crime. Overall, though it's a safe and welcoming place. And it lacks the level of poverty that much of the state faces. Yes, there are no glitzy mountains nearby, thank God. If there were, it would be Jackson, which nobody wants to see. Gillette is the third-larges city in the state, and has much more to offer then Jackson has, and it is the last bastion of affordability in the West. The average household earns enough to buy the average home in less than 4 years ($93.5K is the median household income, and the median home price is $312K). You cannot find that anywhere else west of the Mississippi. And for this price, you are getting a house, not a condo, like in big cities. And most houses are built in the past few decades, not like in older cities farther east, like Minneapolis or KCMO.
Politically, it's live-and-let live as most of the mountain west, but with a friendly Midwest element that you won't find as much if you go any farther west. To me, it's the bets of both worlds - Midwest cost of living with a Western frontier feel.
David | Taylor, AZ