Town · Natrona County, Wyoming

Mills, Wyoming

Mills is a town in Natrona County, Wyoming, part of the Casper, WY metro area. It has 4,390 residents. Mills, Wyoming has a quality-of-life score of 44 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,729 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wyoming it ranks #48 of 56 cities and towns. It ranks best on new business applications (high), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low) and arts, entertainment and recreation (high). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), distance to an Amtrak station (high) and suicide rate (high).

44Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,729 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wyoming: #48 of 56 in WY
Population: 4,390 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 861.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 5653460

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety31#10,810/15,637
Economy41#9,253/15,631
Housing77#3,481/14,977
Health24#11,941/15,609
Healthcare35#10,134/15,650
Environment82#2,809/15,453
Education61#6,114/15,649
Infrastructure24#11,968/15,650
Community33#10,442/15,651
Leisure & amenities68#4,984/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Mills, Wyoming ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Natrona County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

New business applications · high95.8 /1k
100/100Wyoming 134.2 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauNatrona County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low3.6 µg/m³
100/100Wyoming 4.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyNatrona County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high8.2 /10k
93/100Wyoming 8.5 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsNatrona County value
High school diploma or higher · high88.3%
92/100Wyoming 94.2%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Average commute time · low21.9 min
91/100Wyoming 18.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Mental health providers · high512 /100k
88/100Wyoming 413 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteNatrona County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high223 mi
0/100Wyoming 131 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauNatrona County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high192 mi
3/100Wyoming 173 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauNatrona County value
Suicide rate · high30.0 /100k
3/100Wyoming 30.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataNatrona County value
Distance to an emergency room · high16.1 mi
6/100Wyoming 15.7 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesNatrona County value
Firearm deaths · high23.8 /100k
8/100Wyoming 25.3 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataNatrona County value
Comfortable days · low23.1%
9/100Wyoming 24.3%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationNatrona County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
3,919 (2015-2019) → 4,390 (2020-2024)
+12%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
46.9% (2015-2019) → 72.5% (2020-2024)
+26 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
62.9% (2015-2019) → 86.5% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
25.6 /1k (2021) → 4.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−83%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
28.7% (2015-2019) → 44.3% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
28.3% (2015-2019) → 18.3% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Mills, Wyoming improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Uninsured−10 points28.3% → 18.3%
Broadband+24 points62.9% → 86.5%
Bachelor's++9.3 points5.9% → 15.2%

Declined1

Rent burden+26 points46.9% → 72.5%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Mills, Wyoming between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.1 min2015-2019	21.9 min2020-2024	+4.8 min	Within the margin of error	11%
Bachelor's degree or higher	5.9%2015-2019	15.2%2020-2024	+9.3 points	Improved	88%
Broadband subscriptions	62.9%2015-2019	86.5%2020-2024	+24 points	Improved	94%
Effective property tax rate	0.71%2015-2019	0.69%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	20%
High school diploma or higher	89.4%2015-2019	88.3%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	3.4×2020-2024	+1.0×	Within the margin of error	22%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4042015-2019	0.4012020-2024	−0.004	Within the margin of error	54%
Median household income	$46,2402015-2019	$50,6562020-2024	+9.6%	Within the margin of error	16%
Poverty rate	10.7%2015-2019	15.0%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Rent as share of income	28.7%2015-2019	44.3%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Rent-burdened households	46.9%2015-2019	72.5%2020-2024	+26 points	Declined	5%
Unemployment rate	8.4%2015-2019	8.1%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	28.3%2015-2019	18.3%2020-2024	−10 points	Improved	96%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Mills, Wyoming five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Mills, Wyoming in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Mills, Wyoming itself moved −12.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

4,390 residents (±31)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,847 households (±148)

Mills, Wyoming
Wyoming share

Under $25k17%†312
$25k–50k33%†601
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,847 households (±148)

Mills, Wyoming
Wyoming share

Own75%1,387
Rent25%460

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,903 workers (±184)

Mills, Wyoming
Wyoming share

Drive alone83%1,584
Carpool7.6%†144
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Casper, WY

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Natrona County, the county holding most of Mills's residents.

Natrona County has 3,071 employer establishments, 384 for every 10,000 residents (1.55× the US rate of 248; 0.94× Wyoming's), with 31,602 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,158. The Census Bureau also counts 8,060 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,071; 8,060 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 384; US 248 · Wyoming 408
Paid employees: 31,602
Average annual pay: $59,158; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Natrona County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	237	29.6	1.42×More than typical	2,183	$73,235	327
Specialty trade contractors	232	29	1.87×More than typical	1,673	$66,018	450
Restaurants and other eating places	154	19.3	1.05×About typical	3,024	$23,198	25
Lessors of real estate	129	16.1	1.31×More than typical	394	$46,079	1,205
Services to buildings and dwellings	97	12.1	1.80×More than typical	537	$32,138	394
Construction of buildings	88	11	1.46×More than typical	407	$61,314	199
Building equipment contractors	83	10.4	1.72×More than typical	1,001	$69,986	63
Truck transportation	83	10.4	2.05×More than typical	869	$69,781	133
Offices of other health practitioners	78	9.8	1.61×More than typical	524	$47,521	146
Management, scientific and technical consulting	77	9.6	1.43×More than typical	627	$88,901	294
Automotive repair and maintenance	73	9.1	1.81×More than typical	379	$46,792	73
Offices of physicians	71	8.9	1.37×More than typical	595	$127,936	74

Rank places for an industry Open Natrona County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 79,976 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $872.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Mills, Wyoming: $199 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $872.3K; −47% vs FY2025
Per resident: $199; US $1,994
Sole-source: 8.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 19%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Bureau of Reclamation$863.2K99%
Department of Energy$9,0781.0%

Top recipients

BIO-WEST INC$146.9K17%
EARLE KINLAW & ASSOCIATES, INC.$128K15%
PINYON-SUNDANCE JV, LLC$94.5K11%
ECO-FRIENDLY CLEANING SPECIALIST, LLC$64.2K7.4%
YSI INC$62.4K7.2%

Spending by fiscal year

1.4MFY2017
531KFY2018
1.7MFY2019
497.9KFY2020
1.6MFY2021
1.7MFY2022
2.7MFY2023
2.1M

Top industries (NAICS)

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$251.2K29%
Other general purpose machinery manufacturing · 3339$160.9K18%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$145.9K17%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$84.3K9.7%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112$47.5K5.4%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Mills, Wyoming

TSC-SEMINOE DAM SEISMIC ANALYSIS$1.3M
AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC.· Natrona County, WY· Construction & real property· Aug 30, 2024 – Feb 20, 2026· 140R8124F0135
WCF-WY JANITORIAL SERVICES-MILLS AREA$200.5K
ECO-FRIENDLY CLEANING SPECIALIST, LLC· Natrona County, WY· Facilities & utilities· Mar 18, 2024 – Jul 16, 2026· 140R6024C0009
ECRS IDIQ TASK ORDER - DKAO NOXIOUS WEED SURVEY$153K
BIO-WEST INC· Natrona County, WY· Professional services· Jul 7, 2026 – Jul 7, 2026· 140R6026F0052
PILOT BUTTE - JANITORIAL SERVICE

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Mills, Wyoming, so they do not add up across cities.

Mills, Wyoming's figures are part of those of Natrona County, WY ($3.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 27% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Mills is mostly in Natrona County.

See federal money in Natrona County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Mills, Wyoming is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Harriet M. HagemanR-WY · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 0.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Natrona County74100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Casper, WY75

Other cities and towns in Natrona County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5653460

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends