Wyoming’s Population Nears 583,000, Natrona and Teton Counties State’s Fastest Growers

Wyoming’s population grew by about one percent last year to 582,658.

Officials with the state’s Economic Analysis Division gathered the county and statewide information between July 2012 and July 2013.

Principal economist Wenlin Liu says last year's increase was average when compared to the rest of the Intermountain West.

“Wyoming’s one percent, comparing with other neighboring states, is faster than Idaho, Montana and Nebraska, but is slightly slower than Utah, Colorado and South Dakota,” Liu said.

Liu also says the estimates for last year were in line with previous projections made by his department.

“Actually, this one percent is really close to our expectations,” Liu said. "(The population growth) is going to be, in some years, higher or lower, but it’s going to be around one percent."

Natrona County and Teton County saw the state's most-significant population growth, with both up 2.9 percent last year. Sublette County saw the state's steepest population decline, down 3.2 percent.

Liu says Laramie County’s population increased 1.2 percent. Albany County’s population increased 0.5 percent.

When factoring out natural growth caused by births and deaths, Liu says Wyoming gained 3,000 people last year.