Rock Springs, Wyoming
Area Profile
23,127 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Rock Springs, in Sweetwater County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 14 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 3.4% and the Opportunity signal places Rock Springs in the bottom 27%. The unemployment rate is published for Sweetwater County, WY, which contains Rock Springs, rather than for Rock Springs alone.
Residential permitting has slowed: 14 units authorized over the past twelve months, 36% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.
Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.2 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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across Sweetwater County, WY, which contains Rock Springs, is 3.4%, lower than in 84% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across Sweetwater County, WY, which contains Rock Springs, fell 3.2% over the past year, to 18,215 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsSweetwater County, WY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $57,187 | 21st percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftSweetwater County, WY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $65,593 | 36th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$3,9572024 ACS 5-Year | $69,168 | Top 47%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$4,6142024 ACS 5-Year | $41,182 | Top 30%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 15.4% | Bottom 34%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 22.5 min | Top 28%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 21.9% | Top 46%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 79.1% | 57th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentSweetwater County, WY’s figureJuly 2026 | 18,215 | Bottom 20%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)Sweetwater County, WY’s figureJuly 2026 | −7.4% | Bottom 1%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)Sweetwater County, WY’s figureJuly 2026 | −3.2% | Bottom 6%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceSweetwater County, WY’s figureJuly 2026 | 18,850 | 20th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 80.6% | Top 41%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 2.0% | 90th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)Sweetwater County, WY’s figureJuly 2026 | −0.2% | Top 44%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateSweetwater County, WY’s figureJuly 2026 | 3.4% | Top 16%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 3.3% | 28th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Sweetwater County, WY, which contains this city.
46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 15.3 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Springs High School | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 1,393 | 17.9 | 40% | 46% |
| Rock Springs Junior High | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 746 | 15.5 | 50% | 58% |
| Pilot Butte Elementary | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 547 | 15.6 | 47% | 54% |
| Eastside Elementary | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 541 | 15.9 | 38% | 44% |
| Sage Elementary | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 352 | 13.0 | 62% | 67% |
| Walnut Elementary | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 195 | 13.0 | 52% | 42% |
| Desert View Elementary | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 181 | 12.9 | 52% | 47% |
| Northpark Elementary | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 165 | 11.8 | 62% | 57% |
| Black Butte High School | Sweetwater County School District #1 | 103 | 9.4 | 35% | 55% |
| Roosevelt Learning Center | BOCES 5 | 0 | — | — | — |
47.4% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Wyoming is up 44% over five years, and up 3.9% 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 $1,561 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.61% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $996, close to the $928 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $996 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,800 a year, about 58% of the median household income here of $69,168.
The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $928 a month.
A median home at $256,200 costs 3.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,748, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.
The figures above are measured against Rock Springs’s median household income of $69,168, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Wyoming’s figure2026 Q2 | +3.9% | 65th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wyoming’s figure2026 Q2 | +43.6% | 52nd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Wyoming’s figure2026 Q2 | +76.5% | 24th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year | 3.2 | Bottom 30%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 72.4% | 42nd percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±3502024 ACS 5-Year | 10,678 | 94th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $854 | Top 11%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,263 | Top 5%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $996 | Top 8%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$712024 ACS 5-Year | $928 | Top 45%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$14,1642024 ACS 5-Year | $256,200 | 66th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1152024 ACS 5-Year | $1,561 | 44th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$11,2652024 ACS 5-Year | $79,748 | Top 49%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.61% | 20th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 27.3% | Top 44%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±562024 ACS 5-Year | 61 | 85th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.6% | 57th percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 9.3% | 61st percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±2692024 ACS 5-Year | 1,053 | 95th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 22,967 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 21 units authorized in 2025, against 17 the year before.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 14 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.
Federal tax returns show Sweetwater County, which contains Rock Springs, lost about 0.8% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $57,187, below the $65,593 of households that moved out.
At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Salt Lake County, UT 99 people · 6.3% of arrivals
- Uinta County, WY 88 people · 5.6% of arrivals
- Natrona County, WY 52 people · 3.3% of arrivals
- Laramie County, WY 34 people · 2.2% of arrivals
- Albany County, WY 29 people · 1.8% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Natrona County, WY 86 people · 4.6% of departures
- Uinta County, WY 72 people · 3.8% of departures
- Salt Lake County, UT 64 people · 3.4% of departures
- Laramie County, WY 62 people · 3.3% of departures
- Campbell County, WY 52 people · 2.8% 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. This is the figure for Sweetwater County, WY. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 14°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 7.5 inches, including 54.0 inches of snow.
Air quality measures a median index of 45, in the Good band, and about 10 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year | 75 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 7.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals | 54.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 14°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 84°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 4 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year | 10 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index2024 calendar year | 45 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 48°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Air quality
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
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 71% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.
Low or minimal exposure: landslide, winter weather, cold wave, lightning, inland flooding, drought, ice storm, hail, avalanche, strong wind, tornado, heat wave, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, hurricane.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Rock Springs's police department reported 145 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 871.
Sweetwater County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.8 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 26.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 24.2 per 100,000 residents in Sweetwater County.
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.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Rock Springs’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Rock Springs (Sweetwater County) rather than Rock Springs itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.
- Cost of living
- Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
- 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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Southwest Wyoming Rgnl at 8 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 90.2% | Top 48%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 8 mi | Top 19%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 3 | Bottom 20%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 4.8% | Top 35%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Wyoming Rgnl | RKS | 8 mi | 10,002 ft |
| Kemmerer Muni | EMM | 71 mi | 8,203 ft |
| Ralph Wenz Fld | PNA | 88 mi | 8,900 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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Other cities in Rock Springs, WY
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green River | Sweetwater County | 11,581 | 56 | Green River vs Rock Springs |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Rock Springs side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Rock Springs from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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.
ZIP codes in Rock Springs
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in Rock Springs with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Rock Springs closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82901 | 27,198 | $69,954 | $248,500 | — |