Wyoming

Women in Wyoming enjoy many firsts in the nation including the first woman justice of the peace, first woman governor and the first woman in the nation to be elected to state office. Women in Wyoming were also the first given the right to vote and serve jury duty. It was those women who set the stage for an equal nation. And thanks to them, Wyoming was named the Equality State.

Located in the Rocky Mountains, Wyoming is one of the U.S. western states and is one of only three states bordered by straight lines. The ninth largest state in the nation in area, Wyoming is mostly plateaus broken up by mountains ranges. Six national forests with slightly more than 10 million acres dot the state's landscape. The state was officially formed in 1865 after an Ohio Congressman suggested cutting parts of Utah, Dakota and Idaho territories to form what is known today as Wyoming.

Wyoming Real Estate Information

Here are the facts when it comes to real estate in Wyoming. In the past three years, Wyoming has ranked as one of the top 10 most livable states in the nation. The ranking may be because there are fewer than 520,000 people in the state. Wyoming has the smallest population of any state in the nation, according to 2006 estimates.

The median household income in the state has decreased from $46,038 in 2003/2004 to $45,817 in 2005. While the median household income decreased by a half percentage point, the average price for a home in Wyoming increased nearly 6 percent to $154,727. Just one year earlier the price for a home was $146,566. Despite the relatively low median Wyoming home price, some of the most expensive vacation real estate in America is found in western Wyoming, near Jackson Hole, Teton Village, and the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks.

The price for a two to three-bedroom apartment has also jumped, rising 8.4 percent from $523 in 2005 to $567 in 2006.

Wyoming Economy

The main driver of Wyoming's economy is its mineral extraction industry and tourism. The federal government owns more than 50 percent of the state's landmass. Nearly 80 percent of Wyoming's minerals are found on that land. Private producers pay royalties to the federal government on the resources they extract from the land. In return, Wyoming receives half of those royalties from the federal government.

More than 6 million people visited Wyoming in 2002 visiting the state's several attractions including Yellowstone National Park, Fossil Butte National Monument, and Devil's Tower National Monument. Tourism brings in more than $1 billion in revenue each year.

Several minerals are extracted from Wyoming earth each day including coal, crude oil, methane, and natural gas.

Wyoming is the largest employer of coal miners in the United States and in 2002 Wyoming received more than $48 million in sales tax from mining. Wyoming ranks fifth in the nation for the production of natural gas. Agriculture, once a main economic driver, is still part of the state's culture, though less of an economic power than it was in the past. Wyoming produces several kinds of livestock and crops including beef, grain, corn and sugar beets, to name a few.

The cost of living in the state has stayed steady, especially in areas where mineral extraction takes place. In the second quarter of 2006, the monthly average cost of living in the state for someone who owned a home was $748, up 8 percent from the same period in 2005.

Education in WY

Wyoming's constitution, unlike many other state constitutions in the nation, prohibits the state from developing a curriculum and choosing text books. Local school boards decide their own curriculum and use of books.

Wyoming has several higher education institutions but the only four year school is the University of Wyoming. There are seven community colleges located in Powell, Riverton, Sheridan, Cheyenne, Torrington, Rock Springs, and Casper. Wyoming ranks second in the nation with 89 percent of people age 25 and older who have a high school diploma. Nearly 22 percent of the population holds a bachelor's degree or higher.