Former Chicago structural engineer Zoe De La Paz has given up her $75,000 corporate career to work as a seamstress in Yellowstone National Park.
The 26-year-old now earns $19.25 per hour working a 40-hour week for Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the private concessionaire that manages lodging, dining, and staff operations across the park. She pays just $96 a month for housing inside the historic national park.
De La Paz is based in Mammoth Village, a settlement near Yellowstone's northern entrance that serves as the administrative headquarters for the park. Her workday begins around 7:00 a.m., and she commutes to the park's uniform department aboard a dedicated employee bus.
Her daily responsibilities involve altering and repairing uniforms for thousands of seasonal and permanent park staff members. Her tasks include sewing on official emblems, replacing worn buttons and zippers, fixing fasteners, and hemming garments. At the start of the busy summer season, she sometimes processed more than 40 pairs of pants in a single day.
Career Switch and Background
Before making the move to Wyoming, De La Paz worked as a structural design engineer in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States and a major center for architectural and engineering firms. Although she earned approximately $75,000 annually in her corporate position, she realized that office work did not bring her personal satisfaction.
Sewing had been a favorite hobby for De La Paz since her teenage years. Her decision to turn that passion into a full-time profession came after she secured an opportunity to work on stage costumes for dancers performing with the Canadian pop star The Weeknd.
She experienced life in the American West for the first time in 2024, when she traveled to Yellowstone to visit a friend who was working there as a seasonal employee. The vast wilderness and outdoor lifestyle made a strong impression on her, prompting her to leave office work behind. She found a job opening for a seamstress in Yellowstone in early 2026 and officially relocated in June 2026.
Dormitory Housing and Monthly Budget
In a profile published by the news outlet CNBC, De La Paz explained that low living expenses were the principal benefit of her job with Xanterra. Her monthly housing charge of $96 secures a bed in a dormitory room in Mammoth Village, which she shares with one or two female roommates. The fee covers all utilities as well as Wi-Fi access.
The staff dormitory building provides shared bathroom facilities, a laundry room, and common recreation areas for resident workers. Beyond her housing payment, about $359 is deducted automatically from her monthly paycheck to cover meals at the employee dining hall. During July, she spent an additional $383 on food purchased outside the staff cafeterias.
Her detailed financial breakdown for the month of July showed total expenses including $1,162 in personal spending, $742 for food, $586 set aside for savings and investments, $96 for housing, $34 for digital subscriptions, and $20 for her mobile phone bill.
Even though her current hourly wage represents a substantial reduction from her previous engineering salary in Chicago, De La Paz has maintained a strong financial cushion. She holds an emergency fund of $11,000 alongside more than $34,000 saved in a retirement account.
Wilderness Encounters and Leisure
Relocating to Yellowstone National Park, which covers 2.2 million acres of mountainous terrain and geothermal features, brought drastic changes from city life in Chicago. On her second day after moving to the park, De La Paz came face to face with a grizzly bear while out hiking.
Living in Mammoth Village requires her to accommodate the local wildlife during her daily routine, as bison and deer routinely roam through the community. On some nights, she is woken up by the loud bugling of wild elk near the residential quarters.
De La Paz noted that living close to nature was one of the primary reasons she chose to settle in Yellowstone. During her time off, she participates in organized employee activities, goes hiking, rides horses, and attends guided tours throughout the park.
