Counties / Wyoming / Lincoln County

Lincoln County, WY

FIPS 56023 · population 20,486 · outside every metro area

$507k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$507k
▲ 0.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$2,450
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
5.8%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$963
market rent is 2.54x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+66.8%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+0.2%FHFA HPI2025+7.4%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$373k
Surveyed gross rent$960
Rent burden 30%+30.2%
Median year built1988
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
16.5%vacant
9,964estimated housing units
Occupied tenure23.0% renter
owner 77.0%renter 23.0%
Structure mix79.6% single-family
Single-family 79.6%20+ units 1.2%Mobile home 12.1%Other 7.1%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs7,318▲ 0.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,245annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,246▲ 4.4% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities24.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.3%WEEKLY WAGE+4.4%Trade, transportation, and utilities24.0%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Lincoln County’s tension is a supplied 5.8% gross yield against price measures that differ by source and vintage. It merits unit-level rent and flood-cost verification; broad medians warrant caution. In Zillow’s 2026-06 county observation, median home value was $507,148, up 0.18% year over year, and median asking rent was $2,450 monthly. This is measured market rent, not HUD assistance.

02Housing economics

The yield is before costs. The effective property-tax rate is 0.45%, a carrying cost against the price/rent relationship. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot substitute for market rent or yield. Separately, FHFA’s 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 7.43% year over year and 66.78% over five years. It is an appreciation index, not a dollar home value, and cannot be averaged with Zillow’s differently dated result.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS snapshot shows 229 active listings unchanged year over year, 49 median days on market, and 15.51% price-reduced. These are asking-price, visible-supply, marketing-time, and seller-concession evidence—not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. QCEW’s 2025 county record reports covered-job and covered-worker wage increases at workplaces; Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Net tax-return migration was 39; inbound movers’ average AGI exceeded outbound movers’ by $46,568. Investor share was 7.02% of purchase mortgages. This records positive net migration and limited investor participation, not a demand forecast.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.14%, consistent with the dominant inland-flood hazard, but county modeling is not parcel loss experience. Flood zone, elevation, insurance availability, and premiums are not published; without them, flood carrying cost cannot be underwritten. Closed-sale comps, property-specific rents, vacancy, repairs, and financing terms are also not published, preventing a net-yield, acquisition-basis, or absorption conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Lincoln County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Kemmerer city3KAfton town2.9KStar Valley Ranch town2KAlpine town1.2KGrover CDP929Thayne town732Smoot CDP723Diamondville town665
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

24 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Kemmerer cityIncorporated place
    2,972
  2. 02
    Afton townIncorporated place
    2,908
  3. 03
    Star Valley Ranch townIncorporated place
    2,007
  4. 04
    Alpine townIncorporated place
    1,222
  5. 05
    Grover CDPCensus-designated place
    929
  6. 06
    Thayne townIncorporated place
    732
  7. 07
    Smoot CDPCensus-designated place
    723
  8. 08
    Diamondville townIncorporated place
    665
  9. 09
    Bedford CDPCensus-designated place
    482
  10. 10
    Turnerville CDPCensus-designated place
    463
  11. 11
    Osmond CDPCensus-designated place
    390
  12. 12
    Cokeville townIncorporated place
    370
Show 12 more places
  1. 13
    Alpine Northeast CDPCensus-designated place
    355
  2. 14
    La Barge townIncorporated place
    337
  3. 15
    Auburn CDPCensus-designated place
    284
  4. 16
    Nordic CDPCensus-designated place
    238
  5. 17
    Alpine Northwest CDPCensus-designated place
    142
  6. 18
    Fairview CDPCensus-designated place
    130
  7. 19
    Oakley CDPCensus-designated place
    98
  8. 20
    Opal townIncorporated place
    77
  9. 21
    Freedom CDPCensus-designated place
    76
  10. 22
    Taylor CDPCensus-designated place
    76
  11. 23
    Fontenelle CDPCensus-designated place
    3
  12. 24
    Etna CDPCensus-designated place
    0

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.145% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.45%

$1,664 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+39

652 in · 613 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$46,568

$115,121 arriving · $68,553 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors7.0%

17 of 242 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings229▲ 0.0% year over year
Median days on market49▲ 0.5% year over year
Listings price-reduced15.5%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 3.8% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-specific rents, vacancy, repairs, insurance, and financing may make gross yield materially different from net carry.
  2. MLS listing evidence may not match closed-sale pricing or absorption.
  3. Countywide flood-loss modeling may diverge from a parcel’s flood zone, elevation, insurance premium, and loss exposure.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is published market rent the same thing as HUD FMR?

No. Published rent is market asking-rent evidence, while HUD FMR is a payment standard and cannot be used as a rent estimate.

Can the record establish a net yield?

No. Property-specific operating costs, insurance, vacancy, repairs, and financing terms are not published.

What does the QCEW labor record represent?

It represents annual covered employment at workplaces in the county and covered-worker wages, not resident employment or unemployment.