CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming might be the smallest state in the union by population, but that population has been growing in recent years.
Data from the state’s Economic Analysis Division show the state added more than 7,200 residents since April 1, 2020, rising to 584,057 as of July 1, 2023, the latest year for which the data is available. Between 2022 and 2023, the state added 2,428 residents.
As of July 1, 2023, 68.7% — or 401,086 people — in Wyoming lived in incorporated places. Nearly half of the state’s residents lived in 11 cities and towns with a population of more than 10,000. Wyoming’s total population grew 2,428 or 0.4% in 2023, and this growth rate was the same as the combined population change for these 11 large cities.
“In 2023, Wyoming’s large cities mostly reversed COVID-19-induced 2021 and 2022 population declines,” said Dr. Wenlin Liu, chief economist with the State of Wyoming Economic Analysis Division. “Many people with telework capabilities chose to relocate to less populated and lower-cost areas during the pandemic.”
Nearly two-thirds of Wyoming’s 31 large cities and towns — those with more than 2,000 people — added residents between July 2022 and July 2023. Cheyenne is the state’s population growth leader, per the data.
Cheyenne added 585 residents between 2022 and 2023, bringing the city’s population to 65,168. Sheridan followed in the No. 2 spot with 338 residents, with Casper coming in third by adding 236 residents. Gillette was fourth with 218 additional residents.
Although Mills, a small city nestled up against Casper, came in fifth by adding 93 additional people, that was enough for the city to have the fastest annual growth by percentage at 2.1%. The next fastest growing communities were Pinedale at 1.9% and Sheridan at 1.8%.
Despite their bigger numbers, no other city in the state cracked 1% growth. Cheyenne and Lovell were close with 0.9% each.
Making Cheyenne home
Why is Cheyenne so attractive to prospective new residents? Mayor Patrick Collins thinks the answer might be due to the work of Cheyenne LEADS, the city’s and Laramie County’s economic development organization. The private nonprofit works on business recruitment as well as retention and expansion projects, which Collins said has helped the city provide the kinds of jobs that keep and give residents young and old an opportunity to stay in Cheyenne while attracting more to fill all kinds of open positions.
“Look at the explosion of data centers, advanced manufacturing facilities that have chosen to come to Cheyenne. I think they’re providing these incredible jobs and people are coming here to fill those jobs,” Collins said Tuesday.
The mayor also mentioned the work being done at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, specifically the Sentinel weapon system that will replace the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system.
Additionally, Collins noted an upcoming data center build that’s expected to bring 1,200 workers to Cheyenne. In November 2023, the City Council approved plans for the data center, which will allow Goat Systems LLC to develop an 800,000-square-foot center on a 945-acre plot in the High Plains Business Park between Clear Creek Parkway and South Greeley Highway.
“For a lot of our people that have businesses here, finding quality workers is always going to be a challenge, and so I believe … people moving to Cheyenne to take some of these jobs is a really positive thing,” Collins said. “I hope that we’ll see that trying to continue as we bring quality new businesses in, that they’ll have the kind of jobs that people want and people will either be able to take those, and if there’s not enough of us to do that, folks will move to Cheyenne.”
A growing business footprint and population demand municipal services capable of handling that growth. Collins said it can be challenging funding the need because although those companies and residents will add to the tax base, it can take 18–24 months before their money makes it into the city’s funding.
“The need happens right away but sometimes the money doesn’t flow right away, so it does put a stress on us as we have to start adding police officers, building new fire stations as the city grows. It does put some infrastructure challenges before us, but I think the other big challenge we have is providing housing in an affordable way,” the mayor said.
The city’s utilities have the capacity to handle the city’s current population and “significantly into the future,” Collins said, meaning the city’s water and wastewater systems are built to withstand greater demands.
Laramie County growing as cities’ populations rebound
Laramie County as a whole saw its population rise between 2020 and 2023, according to the Economics Analysis Division. The county had a population of 100,730 in 2020, and that’s risen 254 people to 100,984 by July 1, 2023.
Pine Bluffs and Albin lost population over the years. In 2020, Pine Bluffs’ population was 1,172. That’s fallen every year since, reaching 1,121 in 2023. Albin had 169 people in 2020, falling to 160 by 2023.
However, Burns’ population has risen since 2020 despite ticking downward between 2022 and 2023. Data shows the town had 356 people in 2020, which rose to 374 for 2021 and 2022. Between 2022 and 2023, the number fell to 368.
There are more people living in unincorporated areas of the county, per the data. There were 33,784 people living in unincorporated areas in 2020. That steadily increased to 34,518 in 2022 before falling to 34,167 in 2023. However, some of that decline and some of Cheyenne’s growth comes from annexing pockets of county land that are surrounded by city limits.
The Economic Analysis Division’s full population report is attached below:
