Wyoming’s Largest City Got Much Bigger Last Year

Nearly two-thirds of the 31 large cities and towns (over 2,000 people) in Wyoming added residents between July 1, 2022 and July 1, 2023 when the largest city, Cheyenne, added the most residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

For cities and towns with population over 2,000, Mills demonstrated the fastest annual growth (2.1%), followed by Pinedale (1.9%) and Sheridan (1.8%), while Cheyenne (585), Sheridan (338), Casper (236), and Gillette (218) showed the most numerical addition from 2022 to 2023.

Three cities, Rawlins (-138), Wheatland (-66), and Kemmerer (-43) experienced population declines of more than 1.0 percent. Rawlins is the only place that lost more than 100 residents during the year.

As of July 1, 2023, 68.7 percent, or 401,086 people in Wyoming lived in incorporated places. Nearly half of the state’s residents lived in eleven 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,” commented Dr. Wenlin Liu, Chief Economist with State of Wyoming, Economic Analysis Division.

"Many people with telework capabilities chose to relocate to less populated and lower cost areas during the pandemic.”

July 2023 Population and Change (numerical & percent) from July 2022 for Large Cities and Towns (2,000 or more):