Casper’s economic health creeps up with rising home prices, added jobs

CASPER, Wyo. — Three of the four key metrics of Casper’s overall economic health are up since last year, according to state economic analysts.

The State of Wyoming’s Economic Analysis Division released its economic indicators reports for Casper, Cheyenne and the state overall on Wednesday. It found that Casper’s overall economic health is continuing to creep up, but at a slowing rate.

Though the unemployment rate for Natrona County rose from 3.0% to 3.3% from June 2023 to June 2024, the total number on non-farm payroll jobs increased by 500 over the same time frame.

“That could be a result of larger labor force, with more people that are looking for jobs,” said Dylan Bainer, principal economist with the division. The unemployment rate only counts those who are actively looking for work and have been looking for less than four weeks, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics formula.

The other metrics of Casper’s economic health are sales tax collection and single-family home values. Natrona County’s collection of the 4% sales and use tax in June 2024 was $9.6 million, up 4.3% compared to June last year, the report said.

The average home value in Natrona County in June 2024 was up 5.3% relative to June 2023.

Those four metrics represent Casper’s overall health index, which rose from 105.5. in June 2023 to 105.8 in June 2024, the report said. The last time this index was below baseline was during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and it has been above baseline since early 2021.

The index mirrors a similar uptick in state metrics, which rose from 107.3 in June 2023 to 107.6 in June 2024. That report also tracks unemployment rates and non-farm payroll jobs in the state, but focuses on sales and use tax collected from the mining sector and lodging tax collections, a proxy for the tourism economic, the state says.

Wyoming’s sales and use tax collections from the mining sector decreased by 16.3% in June 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with the state collecting $8.7 million. In contrast, lodging tax collections increased by 30.5%, totaling $6.0 million for the month.

The full state report is below.