Like all states, Wyoming has certain places that are going on hard times. These Wyoming places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Wyoming.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 31 cities in Wyoming with more than 2,000 people.
$47,902 median income · 18.8% poverty · #1 lowest income in Wyoming
Located in
Goshen County, Wyoming
Torrington, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Wyoming thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 6,182 people averages the lowest median household income in Wyoming and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$55,613 median income · 22.5% poverty · #4 lowest income in Wyoming
Located in
Albany County, Wyoming
The second poorest city in Wyoming is Laramie.
The city ranks as having the highest incidence of poverty and 4th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 15th highest in the Equality State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$60,154 median income · 18.6% poverty · #7 lowest income in Wyoming
Placing as the third poorest city, Lovell’s median income ranks as the 7th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 18.6% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Equality State.
$50,656 median income · 15.0% poverty · #2 lowest income in Wyoming
Mills ranks as the fourth poorest place in Wyoming.
The town ranks as having the 2nd lowest median household income and the 8th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$55,208 median income · 11.9% poverty · #3 lowest income in Wyoming
Located in
Fremont County, Wyoming
The fifth poorest city in Wyoming is Riverton.
The city ranks as having the 3rd lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 13th highest in Wyoming.
Still not the best news for Riverton.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,500 median income · 11.1% poverty · #5 lowest income in Wyoming
Pinedale ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Equality State.
It ranks as having the 14th highest incidence of poverty and the 3highest unemployment rate.
$65,208 median income · 18.6% poverty · #15 lowest income in Wyoming
Thermopolis places as the seventh poorest city in Wyoming.
The city of over 2,709 ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
$64,773 median income · 15.4% poverty · #13 lowest income in Wyoming
Located in
Carbon County, Wyoming
Rawlins ranks as the eighth poorest city in Wyoming.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$62,867 median income · 12.5% poverty · #9 lowest income in Wyoming
Located in
Sheridan County, Wyoming
Sheridan couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Wyoming; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 9th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Sheridan ranks as having the 11th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Wyoming.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$63,523 median income · 12.8% poverty · #11 lowest income in Wyoming
Located in
Park County, Wyoming
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Wyoming is Powell.
The city of 6,503 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Equality State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Wyoming’s statewide median.
Wyoming statewide median: $76,176
Wyoming statewide median: 10.5%
Wyoming statewide median: 3.7%
On the map
Where poverty hits hardest in Wyoming
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the poorest places in Wyoming for 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 31 places with more than 2,000 people in Wyoming, we ranked each place from 1 to 31 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Torrington, crowned the “Poorest Place In Wyoming For 2026”. The median Wyoming home is 44 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Detailed list of the poorest places to live in Wyoming
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Poor Score | Population | Median income | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torrington | 1.50 | 6,182 | $47,902 | 18.8% | 7.2% |
| 2 | Laramie | 2.50 | 32,234 | $55,613 | 22.5% | 4.0% |
| 3 | Lovell | 5.00 | 2,422 | $60,154 | 18.6% | 3.6% |
| 4 | Mills | 5.00 | 4,390 | $50,656 | 15.0% | 8.1% |
| 5 | Riverton | 8.00 | 10,856 | $55,208 | 11.9% | 5.7% |
| 6 | Pinedale | 9.50 | 2,048 | $58,500 | 11.1% | 0.0% |
| 7 | Thermopolis | 9.50 | 2,709 | $65,208 | 18.6% | 1.1% |
| 8 | Rawlins | 10.00 | 8,129 | $64,773 | 15.4% | 7.0% |
| 9 | Sheridan | 10.00 | 19,285 | $62,867 | 12.5% | 2.9% |
| 10 | Powell | 10.50 | 6,503 | $63,523 | 12.8% | 3.7% |
| 11 | Rock Springs | 11.00 | 23,127 | $69,168 | 16.1% | 5.2% |
| 12 | Buffalo | 12.50 | 4,572 | $62,629 | 9.9% | 5.3% |
| 13 | Worland | 13.00 | 4,794 | $63,357 | 10.7% | 3.1% |
| 14 | Greybull | 14.00 | 2,091 | $65,417 | 12.0% | 2.2% |
| 15 | Wheatland | 14.50 | 3,550 | $58,750 | 9.2% | 4.9% |
| 16 | Afton | 15.00 | 2,908 | $63,586 | 9.9% | 3.9% |
| 17 | Kemmerer | 15.50 | 2,972 | $76,626 | 14.3% | 1.6% |
| 18 | Douglas | 16.50 | 6,420 | $83,147 | 15.6% | 5.8% |
| 19 | Casper | 16.50 | 58,839 | $70,218 | 10.8% | 4.1% |
| 20 | Lander | 20.00 | 7,432 | $74,813 | 9.5% | 7.4% |
| 21 | Cody | 20.00 | 10,276 | $72,570 | 9.5% | 3.4% |
| 22 | Glenrock | 20.50 | 2,941 | $64,806 | 6.5% | 4.2% |
| 23 | Gillette | 22.00 | 33,431 | $81,316 | 9.8% | 4.6% |
| 24 | Evanston | 23.00 | 11,800 | $76,516 | 8.6% | 3.9% |
| 25 | Cheyenne | 24.00 | 65,239 | $78,839 | 8.7% | 3.7% |
| 26 | Green River | 25.00 | 11,581 | $84,747 | 9.3% | 5.6% |
| 27 | Evansville | 26.00 | 2,779 | $76,893 | 3.9% | 6.4% |
| 28 | Newcastle | 26.00 | 3,348 | $82,734 | 7.3% | 0.4% |
| 29 | Jackson | 29.50 | 10,756 | $118,991 | 4.4% | 1.2% |
| 30 | Star Valley Ranch | 30.00 | 2,007 | $96,071 | 2.0% | 1.3% |
| 31 | Bar Nunn | 30.00 | 3,008 | $98,804 | 2.2% | 3.6% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 31 cities with more than 2,000 residents.
Summary
The poorest cities in Wyoming for 2026
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Wyoming, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Wyoming.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there. Not sold on Wyoming? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Poorest Places In Wyoming FAQs
What is the poorest city in Wyoming?
Torrington is the poorest city in Wyoming for 2026. The median household income in Torrington is $47,902, against a statewide median of $76,176. Laramie and Lovell are next.
What are the 10 poorest cities in Wyoming?
The ten poorest cities in Wyoming are Torrington, Laramie, Lovell, Mills, Riverton, Pinedale, Thermopolis, Rawlins, Sheridan, and Powell. We ranked all 31 places with more than 2,000 residents on income, poverty, and unemployment.
What is the poverty rate in Torrington?
The poverty rate in Torrington is 18.8%, compared to 10.5% across Wyoming as a whole. Poverty rate is one of the three measures in our Poor Score, along with income and unemployment.
What income counts as poor in Wyoming?
The ten poorest cities in Wyoming all post median household incomes of $65,208 or less. The statewide median is $76,176, so these places sit well below the typical Wyoming paycheck.
How do you decide which places in Wyoming are the poorest?
We pull median household income, poverty rate, and unemployment for every Wyoming place with more than 2,000 residents from the Census American Community Survey, rank each measure, and average the ranks into a Poor Score. Torrington has the worst combined score for 2026.
