Photo credit: Tom Aldrich
Ask anyone who lives in Missoula, Montana, and they'll tell you jobs that pay a living wage are hard to come by.
The small mountain town of 75,000 has always been a draw for people who appreciate a slower pace of life and easy access to the outdoors. But if Missoula was once a well-kept secret, it's not anymore. Although the population has been steadily growing since the 1990s, the " Zoom boom" of 2020 has put Missoula on the map for good. Like many other hip mountain towns across the west, Missoula became an attractive option for people from out of state who — due to the pandemic — could work from anywhere and retain their high home-state wages.
With such an attractive market for sellers, property owners are either raising rents or selling rentals out from under occupants. To enjoy floating the Clark Fork River in the summer or hiking the meandering wooded paths in Pattee Canyon, it appears that you now have to have an out-of-state income.
For several people, this has meant leaving the place they love so they can afford to live. Here are their stories.