Our aging population

“Ever since the Baby Boomers turned 65 years old in 2011, there has been a rapid increase in the size of the older population,” says Dr. Wenlin Liu, Chief Economist with the State of Wyoming, Economic Analysis Division.

Wyoming’s population aged the fastest in the country from 2018 to 2019 with the elderly, those 65 and older, growing 3.8 percent. The median age in the state grew to 38.4 years, 0.4 percent in a single year while the national age grew just 0.2 percent.

Wyoming has one of the highest proportions of Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.

“Though the impact from Baby Boomers aging was the main reason, outmigration of young people and decline of fertility rate also played roles,” Liu said.

As those Boomers are retiring, there are not enough Generation X, or those between 39 and 54 years old, to fill the gap.

The elderly population in Wyoming is projected to reach 135,000, or well over one-fifth of the state’s total residents by 2030.

Since 2010, Wyoming’s population under 18-years old had decreased 1.2 percent and pre-school children, those under five, declined by 13.1 percent.

Aging is not the only thing that has changed in the Cowboy State.

Wyoming’s total minority population reached 94,379 in July 2019. That is equivalent to 19.2 percent. Overall, the state’s population only increased 2.7 percent.

Liu said it’s actually the rise in minority population that allowed Wyoming to increase its numbers, as small as they are. Wyoming is still ranked eighth lowest in the nation for minority residents.

As for Hot Springs County, we are still the oldest county with a median age of 48.7 years and nearly 28 percent aged 65 and over. Platte, Johnson and Park Counties aren’t far behind us, either.

In comparison, Campbell County has the lowest percentage of those 65 and older at just 10.7 percent.

Our Hispanic population increased the fastest, at 87.6 percent between 2010 and 2019, with Niobrara County right behind us at 82.7 percent and Johnson County at 53.3 percent.

The above numbers come directly from the U.S. Census Bureau.