Natrona County, WY

County Profile

79,977 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Natrona County, WY.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 47% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 31% of 1,463 counties measured64
Growth1,285th of 1,453 counties measured28
Housing affordabilityTop 36% of 1,462 counties measured76
Climate1,333rd of 1,463 counties measured55
Physical resilience799th of 1,463 counties measured55
AccessTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured91
Economic stabilityTop 23% of 1,463 counties measured78
The quick read

Unemployment is 2.6% and median household income $72,156, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Residential permitting has slowed: 144 units authorized over the past twelve months, 58% below the prior year.

Rent takes 28% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.1 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
79,977
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$72,156
Top 32% nationally
Density
15/sq mi
5,340.5 sq mi of land
Median age
38.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Natrona County
Wyoming
Metro area
Nearest major airport
CPR
16 mi · Casper/Natrona County Intl
Median home value
$273,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.6%, lower than in 96% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 39,610 employed residents.

28% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 70% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$63,75962nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$66,63871st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,0402024 ACS 5-Year$72,156Top 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9032024 ACS 5-Year$42,188Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$77,119Top 11%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.6 minTop 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.7%Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.9%60th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202639,610Top 46%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.6%Bottom 20%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.0%Bottom 41%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202640,66454th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year82.0%Top 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%71st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.6%Top 4%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.9%62nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.32.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.6% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202472k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $72,156 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Casper, WY

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons1,370$32,660
General and Operations Managers1,190$101,450
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,110$28,070
Office Clerks, General1,040$42,810
Registered Nurses870$83,760
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers870$58,710

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

48% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 54% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 27 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
29
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across 27 of them
Math proficiency
47.6%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
53.6%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 29 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Kelly Walsh High SchoolNatrona County School District #12,00215.847%58%
Natrona County High SchoolNatrona County School District #11,70315.845%61%
C Y Middle SchoolNatrona County School District #176614.256%64%
Centennial Middle SchoolNatrona County School District #175514.847%60%
Dean Morgan Middle SchoolNatrona County School District #161313.347%52%
Casper Classical AcademyNatrona County School District #151613.251%64%
Verda James ElementaryNatrona County School District #144816.053%54%
Summit Elementary SchoolNatrona County School District #143716.255%56%
Lincoln Elementary SchoolNatrona County School District #143314.052%37%
Paradise Valley ElementaryNatrona County School District #135913.357%47%
Ft. Caspar AcademyNatrona County School District #135612.770%71%
Journey ElementaryNatrona County School District #134815.137%32%

45.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Wyoming’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Casper, WY Metro Area is up 40% over five years, and up 1.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,645 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.60% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,082, close to the $1,016 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,082 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,300 a year, about 60% of the median household income here of $72,156.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,016 a month.

A median home at $273,000 costs 3.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $88,233, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
92.5

Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Casper, WY Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,082
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,016
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$273,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Natrona County’s median household income of $72,156, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Casper, WY Metro Area’s figure202392.5Top 38%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Casper, WY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.0%12th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Casper, WY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+39.5%26th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Casper, WY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+59.1%5th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.1Bottom 27%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year73.7%45th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±862024 ACS 5-Year37,30978th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$852Top 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,505Top 47%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,082Top 38%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$452024 ACS 5-Year$1,016Bottom 29%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,9672024 ACS 5-Year$273,00076th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$522024 ACS 5-Year$1,64552nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,5272024 ACS 5-Year$88,233Top 27%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.60%29th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.8%Top 50%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2452024 ACS 5-Year84071st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.3%45th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%32nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5152024 ACS 5-Year3,42370th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

28/ 100
Ranks 1,285 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 80,410 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 212 units authorized in 2025, 32% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 144 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Natrona County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $63,759, close to the $66,638 of households that moved out.

At 1.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
144
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.8
Bottom 33% nationally
Year over year
−58%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202480k80k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
73%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$63,759
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$66,638
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Converse County, WY 183 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  2. Fremont County, WY 120 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  3. Campbell County, WY 102 people · 2.9% of arrivals
  4. Sweetwater County, WY 86 people · 2.5% of arrivals
  5. Laramie County, WY 85 people · 2.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Converse County, WY 165 people · 4.9% of departures
  2. Laramie County, WY 135 people · 4.0% of departures
  3. Fremont County, WY 85 people · 2.5% of departures
  4. Campbell County, WY 75 people · 2.2% of departures
  5. Albany County, WY 72 people · 2.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025310129
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2020 (+2%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 12.2 inches, including 71.8 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and about 6 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CASPER NATRONA CO AP, 16.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals12.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals71.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year62024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
67
90th percentile index
Days above 100
6
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 57% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

WildfireElevated
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, landslide, cold wave, avalanche, lightning, ice storm, hail, tornado, drought, heat wave, strong wind, tsunami, volcanic activity, hurricane, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Natrona County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 23.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.5 per 100,000 residents in Natrona County.

Homicide
2.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
23.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
30.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Natrona County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Casper/Natrona County Intl at 16 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year91.3%Top 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle16 miTop 20%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.7%Top 22%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Casper/Natrona County IntlCPR16 mi10,165 ft
Central Wyoming RgnlRIW86 mi8,204 ft
Shively FldSAA106 mi8,801 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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60
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Natrona County, WY

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.