Woman Pays Just $96 a Month to Live Inside Yellowstone National Park
Imagine living inside Yellowstone National Park and paying less than $100 a month in rent. For 26-year-old Zoe De La Paz, that is actually her life right now.
De La Paz moved to Yellowstone in June for a seasonal job as a seamstress with Xanterra Parks & Resorts. She lives in Mammoth Village and pays just $96 a month for her spot in an employee dorm.
That is quite a change from her life in Chicago. Before moving to Yellowstone, De La Paz was working as a mechanical designer for an engineering firm and making about $75,000 a year.
She now makes $19.25 an hour, but her expenses are also a lot lower. Her $96 monthly housing deduction covers her bed in the dorm, utilities, and Wi-Fi.
She Quit Her Job and Moved to Yellowstone
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De La Paz first got the idea after visiting a friend who was working a seasonal job in Yellowstone in 2024. She had been sewing since she was a teenager and eventually started looking for a way to turn it into a job.
Before Yellowstone, she picked up work at music venues around Chicago. While catering a The Weeknd concert, she met members of his wardrobe team and later did costuming work for some of the tour’s backup dancers.
Then, earlier this year, she spotted a seamstress opening at Yellowstone. Her work now involves fixing uniforms for Xanterra employees. She replaces buttons and zippers, fixes snaps, sews on patches, and hems pants. On some of the busiest days, she told CNBC she has hemmed more than 40 pairs of pants.
De La Paz starts her workday early. She catches a 6:45 a.m. employee shuttle for the roughly 15-minute ride from Mammoth Village to Xanterra’s facility in Gardiner, Montana.
So, What Does $96 a Month Get You?
De La Paz shares a dorm room with other employees and also uses shared bathrooms, laundry rooms, and common spaces. Xanterra says most employees who live in the park stay in dorms and should expect to have at least one roommate.
Workers should expect at least one roommate, and most dorm buildings have community bathrooms. The company also provides low-cost meals, free laundry and Wi-Fi at most employee residences.
De La Paz has another $359 deducted from her paychecks each month for a meal stipend that she can use at Xanterra’s employee dining rooms. There are a few other reminders that she is living in the middle of Yellowstone. De La Paz doesn’t have a car, sometimes hitchhikes when she needs to get into town, and told CNBC that elk bugles have woken her up around 3 a.m.
She’s Leaving Yellowstone Soon
De La Paz’s seasonal contract runs through the end of September, so she doesn’t plan to keep living in Yellowstone permanently. She told CNBC that she is considering sewing jobs in either Los Angeles or New York City next.
Still, Yellowstone appears to have given her exactly the change she was looking for. As De La Paz put it, “Being here has changed my life.”
