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The surge has reshaped daily life in quiet, personal ways. Writer Maggie Slepian, who moved to Bozeman in 2011, calls the shift “an implosion—[now it’s] a version of the town that feels commercialized and deeply impersonal.” High-end chains have replaced small gear shops; beloved businesses have closed or relocated. “My community has completely scattered,” she says. Friends have moved to Red Lodge, Montana, or Burlington, Vermont—cities where income and cost of living are still compatible.
While there’s always the possibility of Bozeman’s rent prices decreasing given added housing infrastructure, the morale of longer-time locals is at a low: When I asked Slepian what her ideal Bozeman would look like in 10 years, the tears came. “I don’t see a lot of hope for Bozeman—the development is not slowing down, and the policies around it feel confusing for the locals on purpose,” she says. “We’re encroaching on animal habitats and nature. I see a town that is going to become so bloated—it’s already such a shadow of what it used to be.”
City officials recognize the pressure. Bozeman’s 2025 Community Plan cited COVID-era in-migration as a key driver of housing stress and outlined strategies to improve affordability, workforce housing, and align residential construction with job growth. To help keep affordability for locals in mind, the document lists three action items in the Community Affordable Housing Action Plan along the lines of: ensuring community housing services the full ranges of incomes, producing community housing at a rate that exceeds or matches job growth (to help secure housing for employees), as well as at a rate that matches “community housing needs.”
South of Bozeman, Big Sky is experiencing its own version of aspenification—albeit more quickly, and dramatically. The Big Sky Community Housing Trust reports that the 2025 average home price surpassed $2 million in 2025, roughly 54.7% up from 2024, and a nearly 40% increase over the past five years—which far outpaces local wage climbs. Ski instructors, servers, housekeepers, and seasonal staff often commute long distances—or leave entirely.
As one long-time local Yellowstone tour guide based in Big Sky, who asked to remain anonymous, told me: “The development race is so fast it can feel dizzying.” As a result, over the past five years, the population hasn’t grown but rather changed. A similar number of people are moving in and out, but the people arriving have a higher net worth than those leaving.
