Whether you are a retiree looking for a new interesting place to spend your remaining years or otherwise, the Cowboy State is more likely to be on your list.
It’s a friendly state with a few drawbacks.
Hence, What Are The Pros And Cons Of Relocating To Wyoming?
Well, there’s just a lot of nice things to know about Wyoming, including their low taxes and world-famous Yellowstone National Park. However, don’t expect a rich diversity of ethnic foods here.
The Wyoming Relocating Pros
You should move to Wyoming for these reasons:
1. Low cost of living
The first thing you’d look up before relocating to a new state is the cost of living, something which Wyoming doesn’t disappoint.
With their cost of living being just 5 percent above the national average, the essentials are quite cheap here.
However, it is worth mentioning that the state ranks 15th nationally when it comes to the median family income.
The groceries are a little costly as well.
The main reason behind the dismal median family income is healthcare – residents pay 33 percent more on healthcare here than what others pay nationally.
Wyoming has a high concentration of small cities and towns, but you’ll realize that the cost of living in virtually all of them falls below the national average.
In Cheyenne for instance – which is the largest city in the state – the average buying price of a midsize city-center apartment lingers around $77.50/sqr. ft. This is lower than the national average of $219.10/sqr. ft.
Meanwhile, the state levies lower taxes than most other states – it even came fourth on the list of states with the lowest taxes in the United States.
More on taxes later.
Transportation and utilities are affordable compared to what you’d find elsewhere.
Generally, you will find many affordable counties in Wyoming, but Laramie and Teton are the two least affordable of all.
2. Low taxes
Back on taxes. Wyoming is among the 9 U.S. states that declined to levy tax on individual income, meaning there you will pay zero corporate and personal income tax if you ever relocate here.
Better yet, retirement income is untaxed. Moreover, sales tax is 4 percent but counties are allowed to add 1 percent on whatever they decide to levy.
As you plan to relocate to Wyoming, be ready to part with a property tax depending on the determined value of the property.
The tax rate stands at 11.5 percent for industrial properties and 9.5 percent for commercial, residential, and similar types of property.
Still, you will be impressed to learn that the state doesn’t levy both estate and inheritance taxes. Local fuel taxes are surprisingly low as well.
3. Lots of western food
If you are a big fan of western food, then you’ll definitely love it here.
There aren’t many places in the United States with rich “western” food like Wyoming.
Take a glance at a menu anywhere in the state and you’ll see such offerings as white chicken chili, elk, bison burgers, and every other food item you wouldn’t easily find if you moved further east.
Once you settle here, you will quickly realize that Chicken-fried steak falls into a food group of its own.
Let’s not leave the Rocky Mountain Oyster out of the list, and these too:
- Chokecherry preserves which are often turned into delicious jam
- Trout
- Jerky
- Steak
- White chicken chili
- Rack of Lamb
4. Nice people that will generally never bother you
Most “Wyomingians” don’t care who you are – they will let you enjoy a great measure of independence.
They generally assume you are responsible enough to own your life choices.
However, just like anywhere else, you will occasionally find yourself near folks who do put together a few cliques that might make it a little difficult to be influential or even social in the community.
Nonetheless, you will find it easier to pursue almost anything you love provided you show that you’re willing to account for what happens.
5. Zero or very little Pollution for healthy living
If you would like to relocate to a place that won’t harm your health and your general wellbeing, Wyoming is one of the perfect places to go.
According to the findings of the American Lung Association, Casper and Cheyenne– two cities in the state – are the 3rd and 4th cleanest cities in the U.S. for full-year particle pollution.
As you set up a new home in the state, lung damage is the last thing in your worries.
6. Plenty of employment opportunities
There are plenty of employment opportunities here, adding to the good business environment.
Some of the popular jobs in Wyoming are petroleum engineering, health educators, heavy equipment mechanics, dragline operators, and medical transcriptionists.
It’s further assured that the joblessness rate in the state for August 2020 (at the height of a pandemic, mind you) was 6.6 percent, which was lower than 8.4 percent, the national average.
However, you will need to do more research on your own to improve your chances of getting a well-paying job.
7. A low crime rate gives you peace of mind
The state’s small towns have one of the lowest violent crime rates in the U.S.
With just 201.4 crimes for every 100,000 residents, the crime rate in Wyoming is almost half the country’s average of 386.9.
More good news: Property crime rate is about 20 percent lower than the country’s average.
8. Exciting outdoor lifestyle to enjoy
Whether you are an outdoor person or a retiree who would prefer spending more outside, Wyoming is one of the places you should consider.
Your exploration journey could begin at Grand Teton National Park. The larger Yellowstone National Park holds the Old Faithful Geyser. Still at Yellowstone National Park sits the Devils Tower, a national monument and one of the top attractions in the state.
The list of the beautiful outdoor scenery is endless.
The Wyoming Relocating Cons
As you prepare to move to Wyoming, beware of these not-so-good sides of the state:
1. Limited restaurant options
We started by mentioning how Wyoming offers arguably the best western food you could find anywhere in America.
This presents a challenge – there are very limited ethnic foods in the state.
So, if you are into traditional foods from across the world, say Chinese or Mexican dishes, Wyoming certainly won’t be a fun place to settle.
As you will realize if you ever relocate, the scarce ethnic food in the restaurants here is under-seasoned, over-frozen (because sourcing the ingredients isn’t easy), and somewhat bland.
However, there are select-few farm-to-table restaurants that offer amazing things.
Still, you may realize that Wyoming pizza is a bit different from what you are accustomed to elsewhere.
2. Winter lasts a little longer
Maybe this should be an advisory: If you ever settle in Wyoming, don’t put up your home near a mountain especially if you don’t want to be bothered by snow most parts of the year.
Those living in mountainous parts of the state experience longer snowfalls, sometimes extending deep into the summer. Even Yellowstone itself has seen snowfalls in July and August. months of July and August.
3. Cities are small and sparsely populated
This can be unbelievable to some but Cheyenne, the largest city here, has about 65,000 residents.
A metropolitan area with such a population in places like California or Florida may not qualify as a city.
Most Wyoming towns are inhabited by about 15,000.
Conclusion
There are lots of nice things to know about Wyoming before you move there, including their low taxes, low crime rate, friendly people will leave you alone, and the world-famous Yellowstone National Park.
However, don’t expect a rich diversity of ethnic foods here.
The cities in the state aren’t as highly populated as what you’d find elsewhere in America.
References
18 Pros and Cons of Retiring in Wyoming
Pros and cons of moving to Wyoming: relocation advice
22 Living in Wyoming Pros and Cons
What You Need To Know Before Moving To Wyoming
Related
United States Relocations
| Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California |
| Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia |
| Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa |
| Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland |
| Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri |
| Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey |
| New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio |
| Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina |
| South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont |
| Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming |
