I was born in Lander and lived there as recently a
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11/14/2006
Wonderful little town if you can afford it. With so many people from CA and from Jackson being chased out by their own high prices and going to Lander the real estate is no longer affordable to the locals. I guess when you've just sold a shack in CA for 400,000.00 then 180,000.00 for an average 3 bedroom sounds pretty reasonable. Unfortunately if these people had done a little homework instead of being so gullible to pay such prices maybe the real estate would still be like it was just 15 years ago with that same 3 bedroom house going for 50,000.00 or with inflation maybe up to 75,000.00 now.
Good paying jobs are hard to find for the average worker so unless you have some law, medical or engineering degree or a skilled laborer (such as rig worker or mechanic) then you can expect only about 18,000.00 to 22,000.00 per year. The last time I lived there I got very lucky job wise but just couldn't keep up with the housing cost so left. Perfect for the outdoor enthusiast though, lots of stuff to do. Not so much if you want culture.
Winters can be rough to those not used to them, with as low as -40 degrees occassionally but an average daytime temp in the coldest months at zero to 20 degrees. Summers can reach 100 but not often enough to worry about.
You can visit the chamber of commerce for Lander online and the Riverton Ranger shows classifieds for both Lander and Riverton online to give a clear picture of the housing and job situation.
Tracee | Belle Fourche, SD