Crook County among fastest-growing in Wyoming

Crook County’s recent population growth is considerably higher than the state and national averages, according to new data released by the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information’s Economic Analysis Division.

Between July of 2021 and 2022, Crook County saw a 1.8% increase in its population – as compared to a 0.4% increase nationwide and 0.3% in Wyoming.

While 16 of Wyoming’s counties saw population increases during that time, Crook County’s rate was beaten only by Lincoln County’s 2.4% (and was matched by 1.8% in Big Horn County).

Conversely, some counties saw relatively sharp population decreases, with Teton and Niobrara counties both declining by 1.4%.

According to the department’s estimates, Crook County’s population grew by 129 between July of 2020 and 2021 (from 7186 to 7319 people).

The growth is even more marked when looking at the numbers from April 1, 2020. Between that date and July 1, 2022, a total of 264 people joined the Crook County community – a population growth rate of 3.7%.

Two factors contribute to population growth or decline: natural change, which is the difference in the number of people born and the number who die, and migration, which is the difference between the number of people who have moved into an area and the number who have left.

Crook County’s growth between July 2021 and 2022 was entirely driven by the latter.

According to the department’s figures, the number of births was exactly equal to the number of deaths during that time, with 98 births and 98 deaths.

Meanwhile, 127 people migrated into the county. Of those new residents, 103 were domestic and 24 moved here from international destinations.

This continues a trend that has been ongoing for a couple of years. The cumulative population change from April 1, 2020 until July, 2022 shows that only ten of the new residents have been added through natural change, while 256 have migrated into the county.

Wyoming’s growth as a whole has been driven by migration. According to the department’s estimates, 2494 people moved into Wyoming than moved out between July 2021 and 2022, while the number of deaths outweighed births by -490 (6189 births and 6679 deaths).

“Perhaps it’s the first time in Wyoming’s history that the number of deaths outnumbered the births, according to Wyoming Department of Health records,” commented Dr. Wenlin Liu, Chief Economist.

Wyoming experienced over a decade of population growth decline between 2008 and 2019 due to a drop in birth rates and an increase in mortality. Since that time, the pandemic has continued to affect the number of births, and has also increased the number of deaths.

The number of deaths reached a historic level between July 2021 and 2022, at 6679, which resulted in unprecedented negative natural change. Across Wyoming, approximately two thirds of counties showed more deaths than births (compared to less than a third of counties in 2019).

Between 2014 and 2019, the energy downturn led to nearly six consecutive years of negative net migration. However, this has now reversed.

“Energy driven employment opportunity is always a leading factor for Wyoming’s migration trend, but the pandemic specifically played a large role in recent years,” said Dr. Liu. “A number of professionals with higher income and telework capabilities chose to relocate to less populated and lower cost areas during the pandemic.”