New figures from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development show a record-high area median income for Summit County.

According to the new analysis, the median income for a local family of four is $139,600. This is a 9% increase from last year’s median, which was $128,200 and a 30% increase over the last three years. Summit County’s area median income this year is now higher than Pitkin County’s, which is $138,500 as of April 2025. 

Each year these updated calculations have impacts on Summit County’s housing landscape. Area median income is used to determine eligibility for workforce housing and rents for those units. Officials are now discussing how the new analysis will affect locals. 

At an April 9 Silverthorne Town Council meeting, officials discussed what changes could look like for the workforce housing rental properties in town.

“For our units (like) Smith Ranch apartments, where it’s based on (area median income), does that increase people’s rent?” asked Silverthorne Town Council member Amy Manka. 

Town manager Ryan Hyland responded it would change rents, among other things. 

Summit County Housing Authority executive director Corrie Burr said rent increases for those properties tied to area median income will likely occur when tenants renew their lease but that current rents likely won’t be raised up because of it. 

She said new renters will see the most significant impacts. 

“An example of the rent increase would be a two-bedroom at 80% AMI with 2024 rates has a max of $2,194. With the new 2025 rates, that same property would have a max of $2,394, so a $200 per month increase,” she said via email, noting utilities aren’t included in these rates. 

The income listed for two-person households making 80% of the area median income using 2024 rates was $78,000. Using the 2025 rates, the income for a two-person household increased to $85,120. 

Burr clarified these rates are considered a maximum for the area median income rate. 

On Wednesday, Summit County Housing Authority will review its area median income chart for rent and for-sale properties tied to income with plans to publish it soon. Burr said the rent rates are based solely off of data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Colorado Housing Finance Authority. The for-sale section of that chart is determined by the housing authority’s board and matches the current market situation and uses a set formula. 

Amid rising costs like insurance, concerns regarding the accuracy of Summit County’s area median income calculations have only grown louder over the years.

While discussing the change with Silverthorne officials at the April 9 meeting, Hyland noted there’s “always challenges” with area median income, but no one’s figured out a better way to quantify a metric to determine the average wages people earn in Summit.

Similarly, Breckenridge housing staff members have brought up how area median income is the only usable metric when it comes to income testing for workforce housing, but they said it’s not ideal.

“We don’t feel that it is a great indicator of local household incomes — because of the methodology it probably over exaggerates incomes from what they really are,” Breckenridge’s housing manager Laurie Best said via email.

Burr said many people are on the same page about these area median incomes rates not being the best fit for resort areas in general since these areas have more complex economic makeups than other places, but she said it’s all they have to work with when it comes to a federal determination for income.

Burr said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Colorado Housing Finance Authority data is used for many programs elsewhere, namely Section 8 housing vouchers, but in Summit County it’s largely used for housing programs. She said these programs aren’t anything without taxpayer funding since many rely on 5A funds, which is a tax revenue stream voters approved to go to workforce housing initiatives.