Wyoming

How Wyoming ranks among the states

Wyoming’s borrowers fall far behind on cards, car loans and mortgages less often than borrowers nationwide, yet unpaid debts sent to collectors are as common here as across the country. In early 2025, 13.1% of Wyoming residents with a credit record had a debt in collections, against 13.2% nationwide (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). Debts in collections make the collections and bankruptcy part Wyoming’s highest of the four. Low unemployment and few renters paying half their income for housing keep the overall score low.

In no quarter since mid-2006 has Wyoming ranked in the more distressed half of the states

Wyoming’s counties: Fremont is the most distressed, Albany the poorest, and none is in the more distressed half of U.S. counties

Wyoming has 23 counties. Our County Distress Index scores the strain on household budgets in every U.S. county, and it puts all 23 in the less distressed half of the nation’s 3,144. Only four other states can say that: Vermont, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Nebraska. Fremont County, around Lander, is Wyoming’s most distressed, at 43; that score means Fremont is more distressed than 43% of U.S. counties. Of those four other states, only Vermont has a most distressed county that is less distressed than Fremont. Albany County, home to Laramie, has the state’s highest poverty rate, 15.9% in 2024, by the Census Bureau’s estimate. Teton County, around Jackson, is the least distressed, at 0, and the eighth least distressed county in the country.

Every county, by score

Of Wyoming’s 23 counties, 6 score from 30 to 49 and the other 17 score under 30. None scores 50 or more, and three (Crook, Lincoln and Teton) rank among the 100 least distressed counties in the country.

All 23 Wyoming counties, ranked →

Do Campbell, Sweetwater and three other counties share one story? Not on our index

No. We chose five counties to compare: Campbell, Converse, Natrona, Sublette and Sweetwater. Together they hold 32.8% of Wyoming’s people. Sweetwater is the state’s second most distressed county, at 38, while Sublette and Converse score just 5 and 9. The choice of five is ours, not a federal list, and the scores show where strain sits, not why.

Three of the five, Campbell, Converse and Sublette, had median household incomes well above Wyoming’s $76,975 in 2024; Natrona and Sweetwater sat just under it. Sweetwater stands apart on debts with collectors and bankruptcy filings: its part for those is the highest of any Wyoming county. Teton County, with the state’s highest median household income at $151,604, is not in the group and scores 0. Every Wyoming county, ranked →

How many people live in Wyoming? Fewer than in any other state

Wyoming had 588,753 residents on July 1, 2025, by the Census Bureau’s estimate, the fewest of the 50 states and fewer than D.C. as well. The state has grown each year since 2020, by 1.9% in all, and the 2025 count is its highest in Census Bureau estimates since 2000.

Wyoming’s small size means its counts are the smallest of any state, so this page ranks it by rates and shares, which tell more (see SNAP).

What changed in Wyoming in the past year

1. Sept. 29, 2026

   Pacific Soda asked to delay one soda ash project, and WE Soda split another into phases

   Cowboy State Daily reported on Aug. 27 that Pacific Soda had asked to move the start of construction on its Dry Creek project, in Sweetwater County, from December 2026 to December 2027. On Sept. 29, WyoFile reported that WE Soda had split its Project West into phases. Both are changes to company plans, not counts of jobs lost. Sweetwater is Wyoming’s second most distressed county on our index (see the counties).

   Cowboy State Daily, Aug. 27, 2026; WyoFile, Sept. 29, 2026

2. April 30, 2026

   Montana-Dakota Utilities won a smaller electric rate increase than it asked for

   The Wyoming Public Service Commission approved a settlement adding $5.85 million a year, or 18.63%, to Montana-Dakota’s Wyoming electric revenues, for service from April 1, 2026. The company had asked for 24.36%.

   Wyoming Public Service Commission, order in Docket No. 20004-174-ER-25 (Wyoming State Library copy)

3. March 1, 2026

   The filing deadline passed for the homeowner property tax exemption

   The exemption removes 25% of the taxable value of a single-family home its owner lives in at least eight months a year, on the first $1 million of market value, the Department of Revenue says. Owners claim it with an affidavit to the county assessor. Wyoming Public Media reported that the deadline for the exemption’s second year had been pushed from Feb. 1 to March 1.

   Wyoming Department of Revenue, homeowner exemption claim; Wyoming Public Media, Feb. 5, 2026

4. Dec. 1, 2025

   Heating help resumed after the federal shutdown

   The Low Income Energy Assistance Program, which helps pay winter heating bills, had stopped approving new applications on Oct. 15, 2025, because federal money ran out during the shutdown. On Dec. 1, the Wyoming Department of Family Services said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had sent $9.6 million and approvals had resumed.

   Wyoming Department of Family Services, LIEAP news

5. Nov. 13, 2025

   November SNAP benefits were set to go out after a shutdown delay

   SNAP, the federal food benefit once called food stamps, paid no November benefits on schedule during the federal shutdown. On Oct. 31, Gov. Mark Gordon declared a public welfare emergency and authorized up to $10 million in state funds to keep food available. On Nov. 13, the Department of Family Services said benefits would be issued as soon as Nov. 14.

   Wyoming Department of Family Services, news and press releases

Is Wyoming a poor state? No, though its typical household earns less than the nation’s

Not by the poverty rate. In 2024, 10.0% of Wyoming residents lived below the poverty line, tied for 10th lowest among the 50 states and D.C., against 12.1% nationwide (Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). The typical household’s income tells a different story: $76,975, under the U.S. median of $81,604.

Income per person is high; the middle household’s is not

All the income Wyoming residents received in 2024, divided by the population, came to $86,477 a person, the 4th highest among the states and D.C. (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis). Yet Wyoming’s median household income ranks 31st, 27 places lower.

Where the income comes from differs too. Dividends, interest and rent made up 37.8% of Wyoming’s personal income in 2024, the largest share of any state, against 21.0% nationally. Wages and salaries made up 37.3%, the smallest share anywhere. We found these figures side by side; we haven’t measured who receives that investment income.

The chart below sets Wyoming’s poverty rate beside the nation’s in Census Bureau estimates.

One figure that stands out: health coverage

One figure stands out against the low poverty rate. Over 2020 to 2024, 11.3% of Wyoming residents had no health insurance, the 6th highest share among the states and D.C., against 8.4% nationwide (Census Bureau, American Community Survey).

SNAP reaches a smaller share of Wyoming residents than almost anywhere

In July 2026, 24,903 people in Wyoming got SNAP, the federal food benefit, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s count. That was 4.2% of the 2025 population, the 2nd lowest share among the states and D.C., against 10.5% nationally. The count was 5.8% lower than a year before.

SNAP reached fewer than half as many Wyoming residents as the 10.0% below the poverty line; nationwide, the two shares sit much closer together. The two count different people in different years, so the comparison shows the gap, not its cause.

Applying for SNAP in Wyoming goes through the Department of Family Services →

Other sites may print a different poverty rate for Wyoming

Census QuickFacts and other sites often quote the bureau’s American Community Survey, a separate estimate, so their figure may not match this page’s. This page uses the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates for the state and every county, so the two levels match. Programs use a separate yardstick, the federal poverty guideline, which for a single person in 2026 is $15,960 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

Is Wyoming expensive to live in? Rent is cheaper than in most states

For renters, no. Wyoming’s median rent over 2020 to 2024, $992 a month, was well under the U.S. median of $1,413 and the 8th lowest in the country (Census Bureau). A year of that rent comes to 15.5% of the typical household’s 2024 income, by our calculation. We don’t measure prices for groceries, fuel or homes; Wyoming’s Economic Analysis Division publishes the Wyoming Cost of Living Index.

The chart below follows the share of Wyoming renters who pay half their income or more for rent and utilities, with the U.S. share beside it.

This share is the one measure in the renters’ part of the State Distress Index, which is Wyoming’s lowest of the four parts (see how it ranks).

What is Wyoming’s unemployment rate? Among the lowest in the country

Wyoming’s jobless rate was 3.0% in August 2026, the 7th lowest among the 50 states and D.C., against 4.1% for the nation (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). A year earlier it was 3.3%. Over all of 2025 it averaged 3.4%, against 4.3% nationally.

The chart below follows Wyoming’s monthly jobless rate beside the nation’s.

Wyoming’s minimum wage

The state minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, but most Wyoming employers must pay the federal minimum of $7.25, the state’s Department of Workforce Services says (Department of Workforce Services).

Unemployment by county: highest in Niobrara, lowest in Teton

Unemployment claims are filed through the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services.

Are Wyoming residents behind on their bills? Less often than Americans overall, except with collectors

Less often than Americans overall. In early 2025, 12.9% of Wyoming residents with a credit record had a debt 90 or more days late, against 17.2% for the U.S., our population-weighted average of the states (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). Collections are the exception, as the chart shows. This is household debt, not the debt of Wyoming’s state government.

Wyoming residents were about as likely as Americans overall to have a debt in collections in early 2025, and less likely to be far behind on cards, car loans or mortgages

Wyoming and U.S. borrowers 90 days or more behind, by kind of loan, and the share of people with a credit record carrying a debt in collections, first quarter of 2025.

People with a debt in collections

Wyo. 13.1% U.S. 13.2%

Card borrowers 90+ days late

Wyo. 10.8% U.S. 13.5%

Car-loan borrowers 90+ days late

Wyo. 5.9% U.S. 8.5%

Mortgage borrowers 90+ days late

Wyo. 0.7% U.S. 1.2%

Counted from the highest share among the 50 states and D.C., Wyoming places 22nd on collections, 33rd on cards, 34th on car loans and tied for 46th on mortgages. The U.S. bars are our population-weighted average of the states.

More card borrowers are far behind than before the pandemic. In late 2019 the share of Wyoming card borrowers 90 days or more behind was 8.4%; by early 2025 it was 10.8%. Collections fell, from 17.5% of residents with a credit record at the end of 2019 to 13.1% in early 2025.

The big three credit bureaus removed most medical debts from credit reports in 2022 and 2023, and our data can’t show how much of the fall in Wyoming’s collections comes from that change. Nationwide, the share of people with a medical collection on their report fell from about 14% in March 2022 to about 5% in June 2023 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).

Bankruptcy in Wyoming: filings are rising, but the rate stays well under the nation’s

Wyoming’s federal bankruptcy court took in 572 cases in 2025, or 97.2 for every 100,000 residents (2025 population), by the count of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That rate was the 15th lowest among the 50 states and D.C., against 166.3 nationally. Filings rose 8.7% from 2024, less than the 11.1% national rise.

Filings have climbed each year since 2022, the year with the fewest cases in U.S. Courts records since 2001. Even so, the 2025 count was well under the 1,026 filed in 2018.

Wyoming filers lean heavily toward Chapter 7. Chapter 13 cases were just 14.7% of filings in 2025, the 4th lowest share among the states, against 35.9% nationwide. Chapter 13 repays part of what a filer owes through a court-approved plan lasting three to five years. Chapter 7 erases many debts but can mean giving up property the law doesn’t protect.

Is Wyoming a judicial foreclosure state? No: a lender can foreclose without going to court

No. A mortgage that contains a power of sale can be foreclosed by advertisement, which means newspaper notices and a public sale, with no lawsuit (Wyoming Statutes 34-4-102). The lender must mail the owner and anyone living in the home a notice of intent to foreclose at least 10 days before the sale notice is first published (34-4-103). The sale notice then runs in a local newspaper once a week for four weeks in a row (34-4-104).

The sale is a public auction at the county courthouse (34-4-106). Afterward, the owner can usually buy the home back within three months, or 12 months for some agricultural land, and keeps living there during that time (1-18-103 and 1-18-104). Federal servicing rules generally keep a mortgage company from starting a foreclosure on the home a borrower lives in until the loan is more than 120 days behind.

Wyoming was awarded $50.0 million from the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund and had helped 2,200 households with it by its report for the first quarter of 2026 (U.S. Treasury). The program closed to new applications on Oct. 31, 2024 (Wyoming Department of Family Services). Free counseling and legal aid are listed in Wyoming’s foreclosure guide.

Mortgage complaints from Wyoming: payment trouble comes up most

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau logged 433 mortgage complaints from Wyoming from 2012 through mid-October 2026. Trouble during the payment process was the most common issue, named in 102 of them. The next, “loan modification, collection, foreclosure,” was named in 81.

What to watch before the next edition

Each date below comes from the office that set it, nearest first.

1. Nov. 3, 2026

   Voters decide a larger homeowner property tax exemption

   Proposed Initiative Proposition Number One would exempt 50% of the assessed value of a qualified homeowner’s primary residence. The Secretary of State’s printed fiscal estimate is a $92.6 million drop in state revenue in fiscal year 2028, an estimate that leaves out counties and towns. If it passes, the earliest tax year it could apply to is 2027.

   Wyoming Secretary of State, 2026 statewide ballot propositions

2. Nov. 5, 2026

   Hearing on Enbridge Gas Wyoming’s rate request

   The Wyoming Public Service Commission has set a public hearing in Cheyenne on Enbridge Gas Wyoming’s request to raise its natural gas distribution rates by $2.49 million a year (Docket No. 30010-242-GR-26). A request is not a decision.

   Wyoming Public Service Commission, public notices

3. Nov. 20, 2026

   October unemployment rates for the states

   The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release October jobless rates for every state, and November rates on Dec. 18. There is no year-earlier figure to compare them with: BLS did not publish October 2025 rates because of the 2025 lapse in federal funding. Wyoming’s August rate was 3.0%.

   U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, release schedule; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, state release archive

Where Wyoming ranks highest and lowest