Low home prices, tax advantages, and plenty of recreation are drawing a wave of retirees from Utah to the charming Wyoming city of Evanston.
One place in Wyoming has made a global financial media website’s list of 50 best places to retire, and that place is Evanston.
But it’s not just the website Investopedia taking note. Redfin, one of the country’s top real estate brokerage websites, has highlighted Evanston as one of the nine most affordable communities in Wyoming, while World Atlas lists Evanston first in its best places to retire.
Among the top reasons retirees are flocking to Evanston are its low home prices and its lack of income taxes, according to Leslie Hutchinson, a broker with Bear River Realty in Evanston. Her clients also cite all the things there are to do.
“There’s the farmers market, there’s the Bear Trail,” she said. “There’s all sorts of things to do in the summertime. And they love the Wyoming people.”
There’s also a hospital in Evanston, as well as larger medical facilities about an hour or so away, meaning health care isn’t too far away.
Hutchinson estimates that about half of the people she’s working with right now are retirees looking to relocate to Wyoming.
“During COVID, we were going crazy with retirees,” Hutchinson said. “Right now, I would say it’s decreased a little since COVID, but it’s still on a steady rise.”
The retirees who do come to Evanston, by and large, tend to stay, Hutchinson added. While the younger residents who relocated tend to last just two to three years.
Many of Hutchinson’s clients are from Utah, seeking a cheaper place to live.
“The price differential is significant,” Hutchinson said. “I’m looking at a house similar to one I own in the town of Bear River, just north of Evanston, and the house here in Utah is $1,050,000.”
Her home near Evanston, meanwhile, is nowhere near as much. That’s despite values in Evanston nearly doubling since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zillow puts median home prices at $328,589 in Evanston, a 5.4% increase year over year, according to the site.
But that’s not nearly as fast as prices are rising elsewhere, Hutchinson acknowledged.
“Salt Lake and the Ogden area have grown so quickly, and the prices (in Utah) are just outrageous,” she said.
No State Income Tax
For Brian Allen, who is mulling a move to Evanston, Wyoming, what he’s looking at first and foremost is a smaller town with a lot of outdoor recreation. He also loves that it doesn’t have the hubbub of a big city yet is still within driving distance of such amenities if the mood strikes.
“We’re still in the early phases,” he said. “But we love the area and it’s close to a lot of things. It’s like an hour from Salt Lake and you’re minutes from a great recreation area. So, there’s a lot of appeal, a ton of appeal.”
Allen lives in Salt Lake City and feels like it’s getting too crowded. But the family is not yet ready to pull the trigger.
“We’re kind of waiting to see what happens with a couple of grandkids,” he said. “My daughter is actually moving up here as well, so we may all come together. We’re ready to retire, we’re definitely going to go find a quieter place, at least have a summer home.”
A few years ago, the Allens bought some land east of Evanston in a rural area. They have been assessing that decision and wondering if they should also buy a place closer to town, or a place west of Evanston.
“I know I-80 gets closed a lot,” he said. “But I think it kind of depends on where it closes. And I think it’s pretty rare that it closes in Utah. It’s maybe, like, once every five years I’ve seen them close I-80 going up Parleys Canyon, and that’s usually because of a bad accident, not the weather.”
While Evanston’s main appeal to the Allens is quiet and outdoor activities, the economic picture doesn’t hurt the calculation they are making either.
“It’s still affordable,” Allen said. “And I would love to have my residency there, because there’s no state income tax.”
Evanston has worked on creating an attractive downtown to draw tourists from Utah. They're also drawing retirees, who decide they don't just want to visit, they want to live there. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Evanston is one of those small towns that still a drug store. Available medical care in Evanston helps make the town more attractive to retirees. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Union Pacific passenger depot, built in 1900 with separate waiting rooms for men and women. Evanston no longer has passenger rail service; the building is now used for community events. (Alamy photos) 
Downtown Evanston, Wyoming (Courtesy photo) 
Evanston, Wyoming, is starting to see spillover from being on the Wyoming/Utah border. Utah is the nation's fastest-growing state. (City of Evanston) 
Tour guide Joe Dean shows a story board illustrating the rebuild of 4420 a steam locomotive that's been moved around Evanston for the last 40 years. (John Thompson, Cowboy State Daily)
A Best Kept Secret No More
Donald Morgan, meanwhile, made the leap seven years ago, and isn’t looking back.
He and his family had looked at several states in the Mountain West.
“We were looking at St. George (Utah) and Mesquite (Nevada),” he said. “And we thought it was a little bit too much. So, we kept looking around, and I ran into some people I went to school with, and they said they were in Evanston. We had never given that any thought, except we were married (there) in 1977.”
After checking it out, the couple, who were from Utah, realized it really was perfect. Exactly what they were looking for.
“We bought a twin home, and we were going to spend the summers here and the winters down south,” he said. “I bought a truck and an RV, and we bought this house for a ridiculously cheap price. I couldn’t believe it.”
On top of that, the couple’s interest rates at the time were just 2.5%. It was almost too good to be true, but it was the real deal.
Over time, Evanston has won the couple over in large part because of its affordable economics.
“We see 5% sales tax, and then we see no sales tax on food,” he said. “We see gas prices are 30, 40 cents a gallon less here than they are in Utah.”
The fact that everyone is so friendly is a welcome bonus, as are all the outdoor activities.
“We just decided to hunker down here,” he said. “The winters are not any worse than anywhere else. And we really enjoy it. There’s no traffic, there’s no crime problem. You can walk your neighborhood any time of day or night and not worry about getting mugged, which, in some parts of the country, that’s saying a lot.”
There are other perks as well. Like being at almost 7,000 feet, the couple find they don’t normally need any air conditioning to have a comfortable temperature. So they’re saving some money there, too.
“It’s probably in the 60s here right now,” he said. “And it was probably close to freezing at night, but this morning was like 42 degrees. The weather is just great. There’s no earthquakes no tornadoes, there’s none of that stuff, and the economy seems to be pretty stable around here.”
They’re still close to anything they’d want to see or do in places like Salt Lake, like if a member of their family is visiting or something like that.
“You really can’t lose, you’re just across the border,” he said.
The only thing that has Morgan concerned right now are all the articles he’s seeing online in national publications, touting what a great place to live Evanston is.
“Unfortunately, that’s probably going to ruin the quality of life,” he said. “But so far it hasn’t. And we’re very pleased to be here.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
