Report says half as many 'affordable and available' rental homes as needed in Wyoming
SHERIDAN - There are only five affordable and available homes for every 10 extremely low-income renter households in Wyoming, according to a 2025 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Wyoming ranked relatively well compared to other states when it comes to rental accessibility, but nationwide, no state has an adequate supply of affordable rental housing for the lowest-income renters, according to the NLIHC’s 2025 Gap Report.
To be considered extremely low income, a household must have an income at or below either the federal poverty guideline, or 30% of the area median income, whichever amount is higher.
The threshold to be considered extremely low income in Sheridan County was $20,200 for a single-person household, up to $28,800 for a four-person household, according to the Wyoming Community Development Authority's 2023 data.
The federal poverty guideline for individuals this year was an income of $15,650, and $32,150 for a household of four.
According to the Gap Report, a minimum wage worker in Wyoming would need to work 93 hours a week, or 2.3 full-time jobs, to afford the average fair market rent cost of $1,091 for a two-bedroom apartment. A full-time worker would need to earn an hourly wage of $20.98 to afford a two-bedroom rental home, with rent and utilities, without paying more than 30% of his income on his home. That would mean annual earnings of $43,647 annually.
More than 90% of extremely low-income renters are either in the labor force, are seniors, have a disability, are in school or are single adult caregivers, according to the NLIHC.
Forty-two states have 45 or fewer units per 100 households.
While Wyoming came in above many other states, the data shows that just under half of the state’s lowest-income renters are in a precarious position. The study measures access to, not necessarily quality of, housing.
“Some western states are challenged when it comes to stock, but often another unseen issue is quality (of housing),” Dan Emmanuel, a manager of research with the NLIHC on the 2025 GAP Report, told The Sheridan Press.
“At times the shortage may seem less severe, but the real issue in rural areas can be access to quality housing,” he continued.
Emmanuel said that things like working water, electricity, internet access and safe construction may not cross the average residents’ mind, but all are conditions that can be compromised for the lowest income residents in the state.
Each year, the NLIHC measures the availability of rental housing affordable to extremely low-income households and other income groups based on the American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample. The Gap Report presents data on the affordable housing supply and housing cost burdens at the national, state and metropolitan levels. The report also examines the demographics, disability and work status, and other characteristics of the extremely low-income households most impacted by the national shortage of affordable and available rental homes.
The shortage of affordable housing for the lowest-income renters is “systemic and rooted in limitations of the private market,” according to the NLIHC.
Often, what extremely low-income renters can afford to pay for rent does not cover the development and operating costs of new housing, and it often is not sufficient to provide an incentive for landlords to maintain older, lower-cost housing.
“The result is that the private market, on its own, fails to provide an adequate supply of affordable housing for the lowest-income renters in nearly every community,” the Report states.
Issues in Wyoming are also systemic, according to Emmanuel.
“Even when the market is working well, it is not producing” housing at the level needed, he said. Further, people in the West often don’t have a housing “safety net,” or place to turn when in need. Only one in four renters who qualify for federal housing assistance actually receive it.
“If you have that (federal or state) safety net in place, it is easier to provide local help,” Emmanuel said.
Many of the households considered by the Gap Report are severely cost burdened, meaning they spend more than half of their income on housing. Severely cost burdened households are more likely than other renters to sacrifice necessities like healthy food and healthcare to pay rent, and are more likely to experience unstable housing situations like evictions.
Development can be constrained by a small marketplace, and conditions can vary greatly even from one county to another. That makes housing a difficult issue to address that needs interventions at the federal, state and local level, he said.
Solutions include subsidies, rental assistance, rehabbing existing stock and other ideas. Many are currently circulating in Wyoming, from tax credits to housing land trusts and a statewide investment fund.
Wyoming has at least two operational housing land trusts: the first was established in Jackson in the 1990s. Sheridan is now home to the Weston Village subdivision, where housing is currently under construction and being sold at a discounted rate for a group commonly referred to as the “missing middle,” or workers who may otherwise struggle to purchase a home at high listing prices.
Laramie is looking to create its own housing land trust, with cooperation from the local economic development agency.
Advocates have also urged lawmakers to reconsider expanding tax increment financing for housing rehabilitation, as well creating a statewide housing investment fund.
Simply having more housing stock in the state, according to Emmanuel, could help the most low income renters by loosening the market.
And historically, housing was not seen as a divisive issue, often garnering bipartisan support, according to Emmanuel. In fact, Florida has one of the most successful state housing trust funds in the U.S, he said.
This story was published on Sept. 6, 2025.