Wyoming’s Housing Gets a C-: Can Gordon Turn Stability Into Real Growth?

The original story by Dina Sartore-Bodo and Gabriella Iannetta for Realtor.com.

Wyoming’s big skies and small towns have long kept it off the list of housing horror stories, but the numbers now say something subtle and important: things are stable — for the moment — but the state isn’t building enough for what’s coming next.

That’s the takeaway from Realtor.com’s State-by-State Housing Report Card, part of its “Let America Build” campaign, which handed the Equality State a C-. Not a failing grade, but not exactly bragging rights either. The score reflects a market that’s still moderately affordable but increasingly short on new homes, especially in fast-growing hubs like Cheyenne, Casper, and Jackson Hole.

On paper, Wyoming looks okay. The state posted a total score of 41.2, roughly the middle of the pack nationally. The median listing price in 2024 was $465,295, paired with a median household income of $73,733. Realtor.com’s Affordability Score for Wyoming landed at 0.56—basically, homes are hovering just out of reach for many middle-income households, especially first-time buyers trying to get a foothold.

The real problem is on the supply side. Wyoming has 0.2% of the US population but accounted for only 0.1% of national housing permits in 2024. That works out to a permit-to-population ratio of 0.67, well below what’s needed to keep up with demand. New construction that does happen skews higher-end: the new construction premium — the price gap between new builds and existing homes — was nearly 20%. That’s a sign that builders are mostly targeting buyers who can afford to pay more, not the nurses, teachers, and service workers who keep communities functioning.

This isn’t just a Wyoming story. Across the West, the housing crunch is tightening. Realtor.com’s New Construction Insights report found the median new-home price nationwide holding at about $450,800, while resale prices climbed 2.4%. That pushed the national new-construction premium down to 7.8%, the lowest in the report’s history, as builders in many regions work to meet demand. But in the West, the share of new-construction listings actually fell even as completions rose — squeezed by higher land, labor, and material costs. Wyoming mirrors that pattern on a smaller scale: plenty of open land, but limited infrastructure and high per-unit building costs. Growth concentrates in a few hot spots, while many rural areas see almost no new development at all.

National politics are now pushing into that debate. President Donald Trump has been publicly leaning on homebuilders to break what he describes as a self-inflicted shortage. In an October post on Truth Social, he accused big builders of hoarding lots to keep prices high — comparing them to OPEC’s grip on oil. He claimed they’re “sitting on 2 Million empty lots, A RECORD,” and called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “get Big Homebuilders going” and “restore the American Dream.” Whether those numbers and levers actually line up is debatable, but the pressure is clear: build more, and build faster.

Housing advocates say the shortfall is real, regardless of political framing. National Association of Realtors executive VP Shannon McGahn points to research showing the US is short more than 4.7 million homes after a decade-plus of underbuilding. That shortage drives up prices, limits choices, and shuts out families from one of the most reliable paths to generational wealth. Every new home, she argues, doesn’t just house a family — it also supports local jobs and small businesses.

In Wyoming, Governor Mark Gordon has tried to tackle the problem from the regulatory side. One of his headline moves was signing Senate File 114 in 2024, a law that forces local governments to recognize contractor licenses issued anywhere in the state. The idea is to stop making builders jump through the same licensing hoops every time they cross a city or county line, cutting delays and costs that ultimately land in the buyer’s lap. The bill grew out of the state’s Regulatory Reduction Task Force, which dug through rules that add friction — and dollars — to an already expensive process.

Gordon has framed the change as one piece of a bigger push to reduce “red tape” and make it easier to add housing. He’s also backed specific projects, including the Hitching Post employee complex tied to St. John’s Health and its foundation. That development will bring 72 deed-restricted affordable units — mostly one- and two-bedrooms — for hospital staff, a rare example of targeted workforce housing in a high-cost area.

Still, the report card makes it clear: tweaks and pilot projects won’t be enough on their own. Wyoming is holding steady for now, but steady can quickly turn into squeezed if the state doesn’t start building more — and building for a broader range of incomes. The question hanging over Cheyenne isn’t whether Gordon can protect today’s fragile balance. It’s whether his administration, local governments, and private builders are willing to build for growth before a C- turns into something much harder to fix.