The Cost of Living is on the Rise

Costs are rising, but wages aren’t following suit. Gas, food, and rent are becoming more and more expensive. Watauga is a prime example of this growing issue. Photo credit: Unsplash

Aspen Hickman, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

Watauga County is unique in a variety of ways, including beautiful hiking trails and ski mountains. But Watauga is unique in another, less pleasing way. In a recent study by the UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Business, Watauga ranked dead last in affordability state-wide. 

“[The] cost of living is basically how much you make, and then how much your expenses are,” said Stephanie Ogle, a Business and Marketing teacher at Watauga High School. “How much is your housing? How much is the food? How much is the gas, entertainment, all of that. Typically, bigger cities have a higher cost of living. But we have found that Boone also has a very high cost of living. It takes more energy on the trucks to get products up here, so then they pass that on to us. There have been homes purchased for Airbnb, that takes out some of those homes that people could buy to live in. This is a very popular area for people to come on vacation, and then they like what they see, and so they want to live here. And then, of course, you have some wealthy people here, and when they sell things, they sell them at a higher rate.” 

All of these factors complicate the housing market, the main aspect that contributes to the cost of living. High rent and mortgage rates plague Watauga, and local wages can’t cover the strain. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, the living wage for a single adult without children working full time is $19.91 an hour. Minimum wage in North Carolina is $7.25, and minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13. 

“Even making $14 an hour is still difficult in these times, because prices of products, gas, homes, are very high. So it may take two people working to actually be able to afford the prices that Boone has. Our wages just do not keep up with the prices of everything,” said Ogle. “We're seeing that with fast food workers or grocery store workers, and people with college degrees. I mean, I have a college degree, and I make more than minimum wage by far, but my salary is not really keeping up.”

There aren’t many ways to solve these problems in Watauga without an overhaul at the state or federal level, but the local government is trying to ease Watauga’s housing market difficulties as best they can.

“One of the things that [Boone Town Council] has been able to control is that the only folks that can actually create new Airbnbs are those where the owner is also part of the residence, the primary residence,” said Kellie Reed Ashcraft, the Executive Director of the Watauga Housing Council. “It's to cut down on out of county, out of state owners who are just trying to make a profit from having an Airbnb, whereas now at least you know that it is some kind of income for someone who's already a community resident.”

Though this measure is a very helpful one, it only covers the town of Boone. Blowing Rock, an even more popular vacation destination, has not passed any similar measures to prevent out-of-town owners from opening Airbnbs. Blowing Rock is also a popular place for second homes, which are often left unoccupied for half the year or more and are usually bought by wealthy individuals who can out-bid locals who simply can’t match their prices. Despite local attempts to solve or lessen these problems, many aren’t seeing the results. 

“I think it's only going to continue to get worse,” said Ogle. “I mean, these prices, and the cost of living, I feel like it's going to break at some point. You've got new cars costing $60,000-$75,000. I used to be able to get a house for that. The average person cannot afford a $75,000 car plus a house, and then if you have kids, it's just too much.”