Natural gas jobs fuel Wyoming's population growth

By Melanie Eversley, USA TODAYUpdated 1h 32m ago |

Newcomers flooded into Wyoming in the past decade, chasing jobs in the natural gas industry.

The energy boom raised the population of the country's least populous state by 14.1% to 563,626, according to Census Bureau figures released Thursday.

"This is a completely employment-driven population change," said Wenlin Liu, senior economist for the state's Economic Analysis Division.

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The growth came in counties, largely rural, where natural gas exploration has taken off, said Robert Godby, a macroeconomic and regional economic policy specialist at the University of Wyoming.

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Sublette County led the pack. It grew 73% to 10,247 people.

Every city gained population since 2000. Gillette grew the most: 48% to 29,087.

Sublette is home to Jonah Field, a substantial natural gas site. Gillette also is near a natural gas site.

The flourishing energy industry has meant a healthy economy in Wyoming. The unemployment rate was 6.4% in December, compared with 9.4% for the country as a whole, according to the Labor Department.

Two Wyoming counties, Hot Springs and Platte, had slight population declines. Liu described them as "old rural counties" that do not have the natural resources or jobs of their counterparts.

Wyoming remains much less diverse than the U.S.. The proportion of the white, non-Hispanic population decreased from 89% to 86% in the past decade, while the black population grew from 0.7% to 0.8%, the Native American population stayed at 2.1% and the Asian population grew from 0.5% to 0.8%. The Hispanic population grew from 6.4% to 8.9%.

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