Why Are People Leaving These 5 Wyoming Towns?

The Cowboy State has grown some over the past few years.

In 2010, Wyoming's population was 564,531.

This was a 14.1% increase from 2000 when the population was 493,782,

Wyoming's population is now 581,38.

Despite the growing population of the state as a whole, some towns in Wyoming have experienced a population decline.

In each of these towns, there has been a decline in the legacy industries of coal, natural gas, and oil.

Keep reading and find out why that depopulation is probably not permanent.

Rock Springs, located in Sweetwater County

Population (2020): Approximately 23,000
The population declined by about 3% decrease from 2010 to 2020.
Reasons for Decline

Rawlins, located in Carbon County

Population (2020): Approximately 9,000
The town has experienced a 4% decrease from 2010 to 2020.

 Evanston, located in Uinta County

Population (2020): Approximately 11,000
There has been a 3.5% decrease from 2010 to 2020.

Riverton, located in Fremont County

Population (2020): Approximately 10,000
The town has seen a 2.8% decrease from 2010 to 2020.

Lander is located in Fremont County

Population (2020): Approximately 7,500
The town has seen a 3% decrease from 2010 to 2020.

Wyoming's economy has always worked through boom and busts.

It began with the cattle industry and moved on to energy.

We cannot assume that the downturn in legacy energy industries is permanent.

Despite what you might have heard, the world is actually using more coal, natural gas, and oil than ever before.

Many countries, and some states in America, that have tried turning to using only wind and solar power are finding how expensive and unreliable those forms of energy production are.

That's led them to bring coal and natural gas power plants back online.

With renewed interest in nuclear, and Wyoming having so much uranium, there could be a revitalizing of that industry.

It turns out that Wyoming also has an abundance of rare earth minerals and there is a lot of interest in minding it.

So, those Wyoming towns that are now downsizing could see a resurgence sometime soon.