Counties / Wyoming / Sweetwater County

Sweetwater County, WY

FIPS 56037 · population 41,542 · part of Rock Springs, WY

$296k
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
$296k
▲ 0.3% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,044
▼ 3.4% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
4.2%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$996
market rent is 1.05x 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+31.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+0.3%FHFA HPI2025+4.6%
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$251k
Surveyed gross rent$911
Rent burden 30%+41.4%
Median year built1980
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
9.3%vacant
19,289estimated housing units
Occupied tenure25.4% renter
owner 74.6%renter 25.4%
Structure mix66.4% single-family
Single-family 66.4%20+ units 3.2%Mobile home 18.1%Other 12.3%
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 jobs20,344▼ 1.7% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,749annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,354▲ 3.1% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities26.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.7%WEEKLY WAGE+3.1%Trade, transportation, and utilities26.2%
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

Sweetwater County presents a pricing-versus-income tension: Zillow’s county observation labeled 2026-06 places median home value at $296,357, up 0.32% year over year, while underwriting must test whether rent and buyer absorption support that value. FHFA’s annual observation labeled 2025 reports its repeat-transaction HPI up 4.59%, a separate index movement rather than a home value; the labels and methods do not establish one shared growth period. This is a county for operators to investigate asset-level cash flow and for buyers relying on resale or rental growth to be cautious.

02Housing economics

Measured median asking market rent is $1,044 per month and declined 3.39%. The reported gross yield is 4.23% before costs. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and should not replace measured market rent in yield work. The 0.61% effective property-tax rate sharpens carrying-cost review, but insurance, maintenance, vacancy, financing, and property-level assessments are not published. Those omissions prevent a net-yield conclusion.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS inventory observation labeled 2026-06 points to a softer visible listing setting: active listings increased 28.34%, and 23.5% of listings had a price reduction. These are asking-market supply and seller-concession measures, not closed sales or proof of buyer demand. QCEW’s 2025 annual data show covered employment at county workplaces contracted while average covered-worker wages rose; Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector. Net migration was negative and incoming movers had lower average income than outgoing movers. Investor purchases represented 4.42% of 385 purchases, limiting their visible participation in this measure.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled annual climate loss equals 0.10% of building value, with inland flood identified as the dominant hazard; this is a modeled ratio, not a property-specific loss estimate. Flood-zone status, insurance quotes, elevation, and prior-loss records are not published, so hazard costs cannot be priced. Submarket rent comparables, lease-up and vacancy data, transaction prices, household income, debt terms, and property condition are also absent. Those gaps prevent conclusions on asset-specific net income, exit pricing, and resilience.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Sweetwater 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
Rock Springs city23.1KGreen River city11.6KNorth Rock Springs CDP2.3KReliance CDP572Purple Sage CDP489Eden CDP472James Town CDP431Clearview Acres CDP273
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

19 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Rock Springs cityIncorporated place
    23,127
  2. 02
    Green River cityIncorporated place
    11,581
  3. 03
    North Rock Springs CDPCensus-designated place
    2,277
  4. 04
    Reliance CDPCensus-designated place
    572
  5. 05
    Purple Sage CDPCensus-designated place
    489
  6. 06
    Eden CDPCensus-designated place
    472
  7. 07
    James Town CDPCensus-designated place
    431
  8. 08
    Clearview Acres CDPCensus-designated place
    273
  9. 09
    Wamsutter townIncorporated place
    269
  10. 10
    Granger townIncorporated place
    257
  11. 11
    Washam CDPCensus-designated place
    187
  12. 12
    Superior townIncorporated place
    177
Show 7 more places
  1. 13
    Bairoil townIncorporated place
    149
  2. 14
    Farson CDPCensus-designated place
    68
  3. 15
    Arrowhead Springs CDPCensus-designated place
    43
  4. 16
    Little America CDPCensus-designated place
    19
  5. 17
    Point of Rocks CDPCensus-designated place
    9
  6. 18
    McKinnon CDPCensus-designated place
    0
  7. 19
    Table Rock 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

0.096% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.61%

$1,542 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-171

838 in · 1,009 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$8,406

$57,187 arriving · $65,593 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.4%

17 of 385 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 listings120▲ 28.3% year over year
Median days on market47▲ 13.4% year over year
Listings price-reduced23.5%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 6.1% 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. County-level rent and value medians may not represent the subject property or neighborhood.
  2. Unpublished operating costs and insurance can make gross yield materially different from net income.
  3. MLS listing conditions may not translate into completed-sale pricing or rental absorption.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is the reported rent a market-rent estimate or a HUD payment standard?

It is median monthly asking market rent; HUD FMR is separately reported as a payment standard.

What does the FHFA measure represent?

It is a repeat-transaction home-price index, not a dollar home value or an asking-price measure.

What employment measure is supplied?

It is annual average covered employment at workplaces in the county, not resident employment or unemployment.