The competition for the cheapest places to live in Wyoming was tough.
From the Frontier Days’ Rodeo in Cheyenne to the majestic Grand Tetons near Jackson, these affordable Wyoming spots offer an excellent quality of life without breaking the bank.
How did we determine the most affordable places in Wyoming? We used Saturday Night Science and US Census data to compare real estate, costs of living, and rental prices in the 16 places with more than 6,000 residents.
Living in one of these cheap Wyoming towns means you’ll have more cash to attend the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas or explore the Werner Wildlife Museum in Casper.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | FAQs | Summary
The 10 most affordable places to live in Wyoming
Where’s Wyoming’s most affordable place to live for 2024? Wyoming’s most affordable place to live is Torrington.
Are we surprised that some of Wyoming’s most affordable cities are outside the biggest cities? Not at all.
To learn more about the cheapest places to live in Wyoming, grab an elk burger in Rock Springs, and keep reading.
Check out some more reading about Wyoming and the cheapest places in the country:
The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Wyoming For 2024
/10
Population: 6,161
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 88
Median Income: $55,434
Median Home Price: $219,113
Median Rent: $742
Torrington took home the top overall spot on the list of the cheapest cities in Wyoming for 2024. You can find affordable places to live across Wyoming. Torrington is about an hour north of Cheyenne on the Nebraska border.
With an average home price of $219,113 and an average rent of $742, the overall cost of living index comes in at 88. The nearby Scotts Bluff National Monument offers affordable fun.
More on Torrington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
Population: 8,287
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 91
Median Income: $70,054
Median Home Price: $201,063
Median Rent: $805
Rawlins comes in as the second cheapest place to call home in the Cowboy State for 2024. Rawlins is home to the Wyoming Frontier Prison, now a museum detailing the grizzly past of the old west. Those days are far behind Rawlins, though. Now it’s just the place with the best home price to income ratio in Wyoming. With more than a quarter of the population being Hispanic, Rawlins is also the most diverse city in Wyoming.
More on Rawlins: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 10,733
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 92
Median Income: $50,861
Median Home Price: $247,334
Median Rent: $799
Riverton, located in the Wind Reservation in central Wyoming, is the third lowest cost city in the state. The city has the tenth best home price to income in the Equality State.
The cost of living index at 92 is 5 points below the state average in Riverton. Hiking can be done in the 1838 Mountain Man Rendezvous Grounds.
More on Riverton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 6,356
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 93
Median Income: $79,322
Median Home Price: $293,909
Median Rent: $877
In eastern Wyoming outside of Casper, Douglas has the eighth lowest home prices and a solid fifth best home-price-to-income ratio. The city has the fourth lowest overall cost of living.
Douglas has has fun things to do, including being right next to the Fort Fetterman Historic Site and Ayres Natural Bridge Park.
More on Douglas: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 58,631
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 94
Median Income: $67,011
Median Home Price: $277,346
Median Rent: $942
Casper, the 2nd biggest city in the state, isn’t ghosting around when it comes to savings.
Casper ranks as the fifth cheapest city in Wyoming. According to Zillow, the average home price is the sixth lowest in the state at $277,346. Casper is home to the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center and Garden Creek Falls for fun things to do with the family.
More on Casper: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
Population: 11,801
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 94
Median Income: $70,825
Median Home Price: $278,947
Median Rent: $726
Evanston sits along I-80 in the far eastern part of Wyoming. Another hour and a half down the road and you’ll get to Salt Lake City, Utah. Evanston provides more than a good place to stop for gas as you travel cross country. It also offers its 11,801 residents excellent value as the number 6 cheapest place to live in Wyoming.
In fact, Evanston boasts the seventh lowest median home price in the state, with a figure that hovers at $278,947. You’ll get a good deal on an apartment as well. Median rents in the area come in at $726. Generally speaking, the cost of living is about 90% of the U.S. average.
Taking a look at other economic measures, the median income in town is $70,825. The unemployment rate stands at 4.23%. The crime rate is about 25% below the national standard.
More on Evanston: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 64,795
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 97
Median Income: $74,989
Median Home Price: $362,410
Median Rent: $993
Our next stop is the biggest city in Wyoming, Cheyenne. The city is the seventh cheapest city in the Equality State. It’s easy to save money when home prices are $362,410 and the overall cost of living sits at 97, 0.0% lower than the Wyoming average.
Cheyenne, in the southeast corner of Wyoming, has plenty to do on the cheap including Lions Park and the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days festival.
More on Cheyenne: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
It was a very nice, quiet town. I had a hard time navigating – most of the cities and towns I have traveled to have a very intuitive layout, but not Cheyenne.
Lack of grocery stores close to I-25; it was very difficult to find what my family needed in terms of groceries due to the sparsity of stores.
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Population: 18,807
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 97
Median Income: $57,667
Median Home Price: $401,806
Median Rent: $909
As far north as we’ve been yet, you’lll find the eighth cheapest city in the state – Sheridan. It has a 97 overall cost of living index 0 points lower than the state average.
The home price to income ratio of 6.97 places 14th best statewide. That means you have more time to spend in Bighorn National Forest.
More on Sheridan: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 11,772
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 97
Median Income: $83,497
Median Home Price: $270,147
Median Rent: $923
You’ll save green in Green River because it is the ninth cheapest city in the Equality State. It’s easy to save money when home prices are $270,147 and the overall cost of living sits at 97, 0.0% lower than the Wyoming average.
Off of I-80 in southwest Wyoming, you can take in Wilkins Peak or head over to the nearby Sweetwater County Picnic Grounds.
More on Green River: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
Population: 7,561
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 98
Median Income: $62,958
Median Home Price: $367,249
Median Rent: $859
In Fremont County, you’ll find the tenth cheapest city in the state – Lander. It just made the list with a 98 overall cost of living index 1 points lower than the state average.
The home price to income ratio of 5.83 places 11th best statewide. That means you have more of your income to spend on the annual trip to Cheyenne for the Laramie County Fair.
More on Lander: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Cheapest places to live in Wyoming FAQs
The county in Wyoming with the lowest cost of living is Niobrara County. The average living wage in Niobrara County is $82,423 according to MIT data. Niobrara County has the lowest cost of living because it has relatively less expensive childcare and housing costs compared to Wyoming as a whole. Childcare costs $15,701 a year in Niobrara County for two children compared to the Wyoming average of $16,758. Housing costs, defined as a blend of the average rent and average mortgage payment, are $8,808 per year in Niobrara County compared to $10,423 on average in Wyoming.
The cost of living in Wyoming is 4.8% lower than the US average. According to MIT, the required living wage for a family of four with two working parents in Wyoming is $85,468 vs the national average for a family of four with two working parents of $89,744. The median income of a Wyoming household is $65,304.
The cheapest housing market in Wyoming is Lusk. The average home value in Lusk is $105,700, the lowest in the state. The average home value in Wyoming is $228,000, almost 2.2 times higher than Lusk.
Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the Equality State for 2024
Determining affordability for places in Wyoming boils down to how much it costs to live here.
You need to understand your costs relative to what people in the rest of the state are paying.
With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2018-2022 for Wyoming using Saturday Night Science. We indexed the cost of living statistics across the following categories:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Services
- Groceries
- Healthcare
- Utilities
These are then weighted together to produce an overall cost of living index where 100 is the United States average. Anything below 100 is relatively affordable. Anything over 100 is relatively expensive.
We applied the biggest weight to housing as it typically accounts for 25% or more of your budget. Additionally, housing costs are the highest variant cost across a state. We then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in Wyoming to figure out which is the least expensive.
The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 16 places in Wyoming that have more than 6,000 people from least expensive to most expensive. Any ties went to the larger city.
The place in Wyoming with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Torrington.
We updated this article for 2024. This report reflects our tenth time ranking the cheapest places to live in Wyoming.
Wyoming Affordabilility Summary
This is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in Wyoming for 2024, if you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in Wyoming.
The cheapest cities in Wyoming are Torrington, Rawlins, Riverton, Douglas, Casper, Evanston, Cheyenne, Sheridan, Green River, and Lander.
Here’s a look at the most expensive cities in Wyoming according to the data:
- Jackson
- Cody
- Rock Springs
For more Wyoming reading, check out:
Cheapest Places To Live In Wyoming
| Rank | City | Population | Cost Of Living Index | Median Income | Home Prices | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torrington | 6,161 | 88 | $55,434 | $219,113 | $742 |
| 2 | Rawlins | 8,287 | 91 | $70,054 | $201,063 | $805 |
| 3 | Riverton | 10,733 | 92 | $50,861 | $247,334 | $799 |
| 4 | Douglas | 6,356 | 93 | $79,322 | $293,909 | $877 |
| 5 | Casper | 58,631 | 94 | $67,011 | $277,346 | $942 |
| 6 | Evanston | 11,801 | 94 | $70,825 | $278,947 | $726 |
| 7 | Cheyenne | 64,795 | 97 | $74,989 | $362,410 | $993 |
| 8 | Sheridan | 18,807 | 97 | $57,667 | $401,806 | $909 |
| 9 | Green River | 11,772 | 97 | $83,497 | $270,147 | $923 |
| 10 | Lander | 7,561 | 98 | $62,958 | $367,249 | $859 |
| 11 | Gillette | 33,158 | 100 | $90,415 | $310,582 | $900 |
| 12 | Laramie | 31,735 | 100 | $50,539 | $352,868 | $929 |
| 13 | Powell | 6,460 | 102 | $62,899 | $392,071 | $797 |
| 14 | Rock Springs | 23,361 | 103 | $75,863 | $264,064 | $925 |
| 15 | Cody | 10,081 | 104 | $67,764 | $469,664 | $964 |
| 16 | Jackson | 10,748 | 149 | $101,477 | $2,066,686 | $1,614 |