Like other popular tourist towns, Page’s year-round residents and workforce population are forced to compete with investors and wealthy tourists for housing. When tourism increases, housing options decrease for the workers needed to operate the community. Those who teach, serve meals, fight fires and care for the sick all need year-round housing that doesn’t exceed 30% of their salaries.

The hot topics for cities with housing shortages is “affordable housing,” an ambiguous term shrouded in an array of preconceived notions, mostly negative. Generally, it means the rent or mortgage is 30% or less of a household’s gross income. Zillow estimates the median rental price in Page at $1,767, meaning a household must make $70,680 per year to afford it. A single person working fulltime must make at least $34 an hour.

The term “attainable housing” is even more ambiguous, with inconsistent interpretations. For this report, it applies to homes earning within 20% of the area’s median household income. According to the U.S. Census bureau, the median household income in Page is $53,326. For individuals, its $26,731. 

Local businesses are constantly seeking workers but can’t afford to pay a living wage when housing prices are out of sync with worker incomes. This suggests tourists are getting a bargain because businesses can’t or won’t charge enough to pay living wages. It’s analogous to clothing companies outsourcing work overseas. The companies, their supply chains and consumers benefit from low-wage employees but there’s little incentive for workers to stick around.

Larger companies like Aramark or Aman Resorts provide housing for some employees, as does the National Parks Service. This is generally for seasonal employees working far from available housing. 

American lumber companies built “sawmill towns” to house workers and their families. Before reforesting guidelines, when timberlands could be purchased for $1.25 an acre, whole towns relocated once old-growth forests were harvested. For example, McNary, Louisiana, lumberjacks, millworkers and families moved to Cooley, Arizona. The town’s name was changed to McNary after Cady Lumber, owned by William M. Cady, James McNary and Alfred Smith, relocated their mill from Louisiana to Arizona. About 800 people, along with their belongings, boarded special trains and for the three-day ride from McNary, Louisiana, to McNary, Arizona, in 1924. 

Other lumber companies like Standard and Pickering constructed single-family homes near the mills. Rent was deducted from employee paychecks. Many became ghost towns or were torn down to make room for new housing developments.

In 1954, Idaho outlawed gambling, so “Cactus Pete” Piersanti moved his slot machines across the border to Nevada and founded the town of Jackpot. Don French moved his gambling operation, the Horseshu Club, to Jackpot around the same year. Jackpot, like Page, is isolated. The nearest major city is Twin Falls, Idaho, 47 miles north. To recruit and retain employees, they built homes. 

Karen Barr moved from Seattle to Jackpot to work at a Cactus Pete’s casino. 

“I believe it was 1979 that I got the job,” Barr told the Chronicle.

“My mother was working at one of the casinos. There was a space open, and she recommended me. They said if I could be there in two weeks, they’d hire me. So I went down and stayed with her. That was my plan. So I knew nothing about the housing. I actually knew nothing about the town before I got there. The town consisted of three casinos, a liquor store and a gas station. That was it. The nearest groceries were 45 miles away in Twin Falls.”

Barr said there were around 50 one- and two-bedroom duplexes for full-time employees. Rents were “definitely reasonable” and deducted from employee paychecks. 

“For upper management, they built a little area of single wide trailers,” said Barr.

“And so when you moved into an upper management position, you could have one of those for your housing. But there was usually a waiting list. But generally, if you’re on a waiting list for upper management, one leaves, one moves in, so it’s not very much of a waiting list.

“The great thing I thought about the Nevada setup is that they didn't have a tiered system where you had to make so much in order to get into a house. You just had to be on a list. That's all. You had to be an employee, full-time employee and on a list. And as soon as one opened up, you got one. I don't remember many people waiting more than a few days. Because, like I said, when an employee leaves, one opens up.”

Affordable employee housing on its own wasn’t enough to retain employees.

“They had a fairly frequent turnover in the minimum wage jobs,” said Barr.

Although located in Nevada, Cactus Pete’s Resort Casino is currently one of the largest employers in southern Idaho.

With rents and home prices increasing nationwide, coupled with low unemployment rates, it’s difficult for businesses to recruit and retain employees. Consequently, companies are perpetually understaffed, and employees are often overworked as they seek better working conditions elsewhere. It’s a worker’s market, so companies need to adapt. Many large companies, schools and healthcare providers are building homes for employees to rent or buy. 

In rural Spencer, Indiana, Cook Medical is taking proactive steps to recruit and retain workers. The family-owned medical device company says it will build 300 homes for employees to purchase at below-market prices. Cook began by purchasing 62 acres of land on across the street from their Spencer facility.

“Addressing the shortage of workforce housing within our region will be a multi-year effort,” said Steve Ferguson, chairperson of the board for Cook Group.

“Our first step is to build approximately 90 houses in Owen County with the goal of providing Cook employees with the first option to purchase the new, single-family homes. We believe in making our communities stronger and investing in workforce housing is one way we will continue to help our employees and communities reach their full potential, including a dream of home ownership.”

Small businesses can band together to solve employee housing problems. For example, the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, collaborates with nonprofit and private-sector partners to invest in affordable housing.

In Page, affordable or high-density housing is usually shot down by residents protesting in council meetings. Nimby (Not in My Back Yard) residents come out in force with little or no representation by those most affected by housing shortages and costs. Short-staffed businesses and their employees getting involved in city housing proposals could potentially counter nimbyism, giving council members a better representation of the city’s needs and wants.