City · Carbon County, Wyoming

Rawlins, Wyoming

Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming. It has 8,129 residents. Rawlins, Wyoming has a quality-of-life score of 61 out of 100 (high), ranking #6,105 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wyoming it ranks #35 of 56 cities and towns. It ranks best on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low), median Air Quality Index (low) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on traffic deaths (high), distance to an airport (high) and mammography screening (low).

61High

Quality-of-life score: #6,105 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wyoming: #35 of 56 in WY
Population: 8,129 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 985.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 5663900

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety40#9,326/15,637
Economy49#7,984/15,631
Housing88#1,793/14,977
Health36#10,050/15,609
Healthcare25#11,705/15,650
Environment99#201/15,453
Education70#4,669/15,649
Infrastructure44#8,733/15,650
Community32#10,588/15,651
Leisure & amenities89#1,692/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Rawlins, Wyoming ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Carbon 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

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low3.5 µg/m³
100/100Wyoming 4.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCarbon County value
Median Air Quality Index · low8
100/100Wyoming 372025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCarbon County value
Public libraries · high5.7 /10k
99/100Wyoming 1.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCarbon County value
Restaurants and bars · high22.8 /10k
99/100Wyoming 12.3 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarbon County value
Average commute time · low13.3 min
99/100Wyoming 18.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Students per teacher · low10.2×
97/100Wyoming 12.3×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsCarbon County value

Weaknesses

Traffic deaths · high54.1 /100k
1/100Wyoming 21.4 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataCarbon County value
Distance to an airport · high177 mi
1/100Wyoming 131 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCarbon County value
Mammography screening · low32.0%
3/100Wyoming 40.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarbon County value
Distance to an emergency room · high17.9 mi
4/100Wyoming 15.7 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCarbon County value
Food environment index · low6.3
6/100Wyoming 6.6United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarbon County value
Pharmacies · low0.7 /10k
7/100Wyoming 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarbon County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
8,820 (2015-2019) → 8,129 (2020-2024)
−7.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
24.7% (2015-2019) → 36.0% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.0% (2015-2019) → 89.9% (2020-2024)
+8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedImproving
0.4 /1k (2021) → 0.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+37%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.7× (2015-2019) → 3.4× (2020-2024)
+26%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Poverty rateWorsening
11.0% (2015-2019) → 15.4% (2020-2024)
+4.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Rawlins, Wyoming improved on 1 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 13 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.

Improved1

Broadband+8 points82.0% → 89.9%

Declined1

Inequality+0.0490.383 → 0.432

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Rawlins, Wyoming between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.1 min2015-2019	13.3 min2020-2024	+0.2 min	Within the margin of error	45%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.6%2015-2019	18.4%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Broadband subscriptions	82.0%2015-2019	89.9%2020-2024	+8 points	Improved	49%
Child poverty rate	12.8%2015-2019	10.9%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Effective property tax rate	0.68%2015-2019	0.68%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	16%
High school diploma or higher	90.0%2015-2019	89.2%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.4×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	37%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3832015-2019	0.4322020-2024	+0.049	Declined	17%
Median household income	$64,3362015-2019	$64,7732020-2024	+0.7%	Within the margin of error	8%
Poverty rate	11.0%2015-2019	15.4%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	22.0%2015-2019	23.9%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Rent-burdened households	24.7%2015-2019	36.0%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Unemployment rate	5.3%2015-2019	7.0%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.0%2015-2019	13.5%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	30%

“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 Rawlins, Wyoming five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rawlins, 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, Rawlins, Wyoming itself moved −11.9 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

8,129 residents (±21)

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

3,446 households (±219)

Rawlins, Wyoming
Wyoming share

Under $25k20%†697
$25k–50k18%†609
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,446 households (±219)

Rawlins, Wyoming
Wyoming share

Own71%2,447
Rent29%999

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

3,500 workers (±332)

Rawlins, Wyoming
Wyoming share

Drive alone79%2,756
Carpool17%†591
Public transit0.0%0

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 Carbon County, the county holding most of Rawlins's residents.

Carbon County has 500 employer establishments, 350 for every 10,000 residents (1.41× the US rate of 248; 0.86× Wyoming's), with 4,062 paid employees at an average annual pay of $62,625. The Census Bureau also counts 1,166 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 500; 1,166 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 350; US 248 · Wyoming 408
Paid employees: 4,062
Average annual pay: $62,625; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	37	25.9	1.41×More than typical	409	$22,083	8
Ambulatory health care services	29	20.3	0.97×About typical	200	$40,550	40
Traveler accommodation	27	18.9	10.5×More than typical	422	$45,829	8
Truck transportation	26	18.2	3.60×More than typical	95	$63,495	33
Full-service restaurants	22	15.4	2.00×More than typical	220	$24,800	3
Gasoline stations	22	15.4	4.75×More than typical	265	$35,253	—
Lessors of real estate	21	14.7	1.19×About typical	34	$27,471	148
Specialty trade contractors	18	12.6	0.81×About typical	79	$57,051	65
Construction of buildings	17	11.9	1.57×More than typical	79	$51,608	37
Services to buildings and dwellings	13	9.1	1.35×More than typical	50	$27,360	68
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	11	7.7	2.89×More than typical	48	$58,146	13
Automotive repair and maintenance	11	7.7	1.53×More than typical	42	$60,000	23

Rank places for an industry Open Carbon County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 14,293 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 $23.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Rawlins, Wyoming: $2.84 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $23.1K; −79% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.84; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.9%; 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 Land Management$24.5K100%
Bureau of Reclamation$4772.1%

Top recipients

SHEPARD CONSTRUCTION, INC.$20.9K90%
WYOMING CLEANING & SOLUTIONS, LLC$1,7007.4%
DC FALLING AND CONSTRUCTION, INC.$8353.6%
PEAK FACILITY SOLUTIONS LLC$5992.6%
SPRING FOUNTAIN STUDIOS LLC$4061.8%

Spending by fiscal year

16KFY2017
214.7KFY2018
20.1KFY2019
9.9KFY2020
23.8KFY2021
22.1KFY2022
19.6KFY2023
35.2KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$20.9K90%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$1,8608.1%
Support activities for forestry · 1153$8353.6%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$5032.2%
Investigation and security services · 5616$4061.8%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629

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 Rawlins, Wyoming, so they do not add up across cities.

Rawlins, Wyoming's figures are part of those of Carbon County, WY ($2.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.1% of that total.

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

See federal money in Carbon 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.

Rawlins, 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.

Carbon County76100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Carbon 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/5663900

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends