Wyoming Has One of the Highest Baby Boomer Populations in the Country

The elderly population of Wyoming grew 3.5% percent between July 2022 and July 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

For comparison, Wyoming’s total population only grew 0.4% during the year.

New data shows the aging of Wyoming's population is FAST, and the maybe the fastest in the country.

“Though the impact from Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) aging was the main reason, outmigration of young people and decline in fertility rate also played roles,” said Dr. Wenlin Liu, Chief Economist with the State of Wyoming, Economic Analysis Division.

Since the initial Baby Boomer cohort reached the age of 65 in 2011, there has been a dramatic increase in the size of the older population.

Wyoming has one of the highest proportions of the Baby Boom population (age 59-77) and one of the lowest proportions of Generation X (age 43 to 58 in 2023) in the country.

For example, the number of residents aged 50-59 was 12,400 (or 16.0%) less than the age 60-69 group.

“The state is facing a labor shortage as the number of resident workers is insufficient to fill the positions vacated by retiring Baby Boomers under normal economic circumstances,” Liu commented.

In other words, if you are a person who is younger than 65 looking for a job, Wyoming is a great place to find one.

Wyoming is poised for a mass exodus of Baby Boomers in the workforce.

“The population age 65 and older in Wyoming is expected to expand by 13.0 percent from 2023 to 2030, while the number of total residents is projected to increase only 2.6 percent during that period.”

Wyoming’s population age 65 and older increased from 99,769 in 2020 to 111,865 in 2023, or 12.1 percent, higher than the U.S. growth rate of 9.4 percent during the same period.