10 Top-Rated Small Towns In Wyoming (Gillette, Sheridan: buy, college, income)

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by smpliving

My limited observations of Gillette are based on driving through a few times on I-90, stopping for lunch and/or dinner with overnight stays. It feels too remote and the immediate surrounding terrain is bland. Approaching Gillette from the East is ugly with all the quarries, mining, oil industry, and the housing in that area is poor and depressed looking. I guess that really turned me off.

What used to turn us off when entering any town - is the car dump, the old oil tanks, the homeless encampments, the scrap heaps (ala Casper). Cheyenne and Laramie re not small.
Only one on that list that is truly a small town is Centennial

A big town by our standards was one whose population exceeded their elevation.

[jody_wy]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Why does Gilette not appeal to you? Too many people at 32,000 people?
Buffalo is too small to live there?

We shop Gillette, Spearfish, Each about same distance, I like Gillette, the Cam-plex Gun shows , RV , car shows, rodeo. concerts, theater. There 3 good steak houses, good pizza, BBQ, and Like Humphery too. We find most every thing we need from Eye to medical doctors, did spend a week in the hospital last Dec. Grocery's, tires, farm supplies. MG oil for Gas and Fuel.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by jody_wy

We shop Gillette, Spearfish, Each about same distance, I like Gillette, the Cam-plex Gun shows , RV , car shows, rodeo. concerts, theater. There 3 good steak houses, good pizza, BBQ, and Like Humphery too. We find most every thing we need from Eye to medical doctors, did spend a week in the hospital last Dec. Grocery's, tires, farm supplies. MG oil for Gas and Fuel.

Gillette sounds good even though it has 30,000 people+.
Buffalo sounds good too with under 5,000 people?

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Gillette sounds good even though it has 30,000 people+.
Buffalo sounds good too with under 5,000 people?

That's not a tough choice

If you need a job, commerce, and don't mind living on the wind swept prairie (as is 60- 70% of WY) and you're not afraid of bulldozer attacks... and want to be closer to SD than to MT... Gillette is fine
https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/n...d28e01ba3.html

The Wyoming Rampage
Gillette, Wyoming was the setting for another bulldozer rampage on May 1, 1981. In the early hours of the morning, a 24-year-old man named John D. Thompson started up a D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer that had been parked in the town. Thompson drove the bulldozer through the streets of the town, smashing cars, knocking over power lines and ripping up pavement. Police were called in to stop the rampage, but they did not shoot the man because he only damaged property. Police also feared that over-shots or ricochets could hit innocent town residents in the area. Thompson finally jumped from the machine and ran off, leaving it running. It slammed, driverless, into an apartment building and stopped after a police officer fired into the engine. It finally stalled. It was estimated it caused $3 million in damage*, according to statements in the Gillette News-Record.

*$3m in 1981 = $10.3m in 2023

If you want quick and easy access to the Bighorns / Sheridan / Story... then Buffalo wins.

(Both are cities, by WY standards)

There are a lot of nice small towns within easy reach of the cities, and many not so easy to reach +/-

Ranchester / Dayton have won for a few friends who relocated to WY. (for work, usually in Sheridan)

Country folk friends have done well in Encampment and Hulett and various points in between.

Rock Springs, Evanston, and Rawlins are my least favorite areas, and are much bigger cities than I prefer.

[nowhereman427]

Just stay away from Riverton, the place with the highest crime rate in Wyoming?

[volosong]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Do you have a 'real WY small town favorite? '.

I’ve always soft spot for Thermopolis. Seriously investigated retiring there. Awesome outdoor environment. Just a tad too isolated.

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Just stay away from Riverton, the place with the highest crime rate in Wyoming?

Now don't go running down Riverton just because of an article or two. It's a nice place to live
Betcha you've never been there

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by volosong

I’ve always soft spot for Thermopolis. Seriously investigated retiring there. Awesome outdoor environment. Just a tad too isolated.

Only a couple of roads in/out - sorta like Cody and Powell

[Milwaukee City]

Interesting take on the razor city aka Gillette as Cambell County has the 2nd highest median family income(95K) in Wyoming after Teton County. Now money don't buy class but Gillette seems to be a better off places to live economically.



I really enjoyed Sheridan and Buffalo the most. Dubois and Thermop hold a special place in my heart. I will like to add I enjoy Ten Sleep but more for topography.



Here you can look up any census data...



https://data.census.gov/

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

...Gillette as Cambell County has the 2nd highest median family income(95K) in Wyoming after Teton County. ...

How many hours / yr do Campbell County wage earners work, vs Teton County earning stats?