GILLETTE, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park tourism contributes to the local economies around it in a big way, according a new park report. The park announced in a press release on Wednesday that the 4.5 million visitors it hosted in 2023 spent a total of $623 million in nearby communities.
That spending supported over 8,500 jobs in the area, bringing a total cumulative benefit of $828 million to the area.
“I’m so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on more than 300 million visitors a year,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in a statement. “And I’m just as proud to see those visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies and jobs in every state in the country.”
According to an interactive tool accompanying the report on the National Park Service website, spending was even higher in Grand Teton National Park that same year, netting $738 million.
Smaller attractions across Wyoming also saw significant visitor spending. Devil’s Tower brought in $37.5 million, and the Fort Laramie Historic Site and Fossil Butte National Monument both garnered over $1 million as well.
Park visitation statewide in 2023 contributed $1.4 billion of economic output in Wyoming, the highest since 2021. The activity contributed to $479 million in labor that year, with lodging, recreation industries and restaurant industries making up the bulk of directly affected industries.
