Report: Yellowstone National Park brought $647M to economy

A federal report shows Yellowstone National Park brought about $647 million to the area’s economy last year.

The report from the National Park Service indicates the 4.1 million visitors to the park in 2018 spent nearly $513 million in neighboring communities, supporting nearly 7,100 jobs in the area.

According to the report, Devils Tower National Monument in northeast Wyoming brought more than $38 million to the local economy. It had about 468,000 visitors who spent $30 million last year.

The report shows more than 318 million people visited national parks last year, spending more than $20 billion. The national parks contributed about $40 billion to the U.S. economy.

Of the nationwide visitor spending, nearly $7 billion was on lodging expenses and $4 billion was on restaurants and bars.