New UW Survey Says There’s an Increase of Mask Wearing in Wyoming

A new survey from the University of Wyoming's Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center has found that prior to the statewide mask mandate, while indoors, mask-wearing throughout Wyoming is on the rise.

The majority of the data in the study was reported prior to Governor Mark Gordon's statewide mask mandate announcement on December 7th.

The increase in mask-wearing in Wyoming while being within indoor public places has steadily increased since October. In early October, it was reported at 61 percent, then 69 percent in November, and now 76 percent this month. Just 6 percent of Wyomingites said they never wear masks while indoors.

Senior research scientist in charge of the project at the University of Wyoming said:

At the time of the survey, roughly half of the counties in Wyoming had recently enacted face mask mandates...Self-reported mask use in those counties, those that say they always wear a mask in indoor public places, was roughly 20 percentage points higher than those without a mandate.

For the entire survey, 519 Wyoming residents took part and there was a 4.3 percent margin of error.

Prior to the statewide mask mandate, of the counties that already had mask mandates, 78 percent of residents said they wear masks while at indoor public places always or often. However, in counties without mask mandates, that number drops to just 61 percent. The complete survey results and methodology is posted publicly and could be found at the following link: wysac.uwyo.edu/wysac/.