Wyoming's population increases

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released 2017 county population estimates by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. According to the estimates, the Hispanic population increased the fastest in Hot Springs County, at 71.4 percent between 2010 and 2017, followed by Niobrara and Johnson counties at 65.4 and 45.3 percent, respectively.

The elderly population (age 65 and over) in the state grew 3.7 percent between July 2016 and July 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The median age (half of the population is younger, and the other half older) rose 0.5 to 37.7 years, while it increased from 37.9 to 38.0 during the same period for the U.S. The figure indicates that the aging of Wyoming’s population has picked up speed, and the pace was the fastest in the country.

Though the impact from Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) aging was the main reason, Wyoming’s downturn in the energy industry also played a big role.

“As a result of the reduction in employment, many younger workers left the state,” said Dr. Wenlin Liu, Chief Economist with the State of Wyoming, Economic Analysis Division. “Movers tend to be much younger than non-movers, and this is particularly true for Wyoming.” Whenever the state experiences overall negative net migration (less people moved into Wyoming than residents moving out), the population aging will be faster. The state’s total population decreased 1.0 percent, and net migration was about -8,300 between July 2016 and July 2017. Even with the fast aging, Wyoming population was still ranked as the 16th youngest state in the nation in 2017.

Since 2010, total population increased 2.8 percent but population under 18 years increased only 0.8 percent where pre-school children declined 7.8 percent. The age 18-64 group dropped 1.9 percent during the seven-year span. The proportion of the State’s elderly population (65 and over) was 15.8 percent in 2017, which surpassed the U.S. level of 15.6 percent, and this cohort grew faster than that of the U.S. Wyoming has one of the highest proportions of the baby boom (age 53-71 in 2017) population, and one of the lowest proportion of Generation X (age 37 to 52 in 2017) in the country.

For example, the number of residents age 45-54 was about 14,000 (or 17.5 percent) less than age 55-64 group. “Wyoming does not have enough resident workers to replace retiring boomers,” Liu said. “With currently low unemployment rate, and continued trend of millennials moving to bigger metro areas, the state may possibly face a serious labor force shortage and faster population aging in the near future.” Wyoming’s population age 65 and older increased from 70,090 in 2010 to 91,607 in 2017, or 30.7 percent, higher than the U.S.’ growth rate of 26.3 percent during the same period. The elderly population in Wyoming is projected to reach 139,500, or over one-fifth of the state’s total residents by 2030 when all baby boomers will be in this age group.

Wyoming’s total minority population reached 92,750 in July 2017. Minority is defined as any group other than single-race, Non-Hispanic White. The growth of minorities since 2010 was 13,584 persons, or 17.2 percent, compared with 2.8 percent increase for the state’s total population. Over 87 percent of the state’s population growth from 2010 to 2017 was attributed to addition in the minority population. Hispanic was the largest minority group with 58,122 in July 2017, and it increased 15.7 percent during the seven-year span. The Black or African-American population grew 48.7 percent during the period to 6,529. Other minority races, such as Asian and Two-or-More Races also recorded 23.8 percent or higher growth rate, while the majority, Non-Hispanic White, increased only 0.4 percent. With 16.0 percent of the state’s total population, the proportion of minorities in Wyoming was still ranked the 9th lowest in the nation, while 39.3 percent of U.S. residents are minorities. “Both the nation and Wyoming’s population continue to grow in diversity,” said Dr. Liu.

Complete population figures are available online at http://eadiv.state.wy.us/pop/ or the U.S. Census Bureau’s website at http://www.census.gov/.