Wyoming · Laramie County

Cheyenne Authority

Population

65,239

Median income

$78,839

Median age

39

Figures from U.S. Census ACS — each figure links to its source query.

Also known as: Cheyenne Metro Authority

Cheyenne is the kind of place that surprises people who expect Wyoming's capital to be a small, windswept administrative outpost. With a population of 65,239, according to Census ACS 5-Year 2024 data, it is a functioning mid-sized city that happens to sit at 6,000 feet on the high plains, where the wind is a genuine meteorological presence and the sky is, by most accounts, unreasonably large.

Demographics and Age Profile

The median age in Cheyenne is 38.9 years, per Census ACS 5-Year 2024, which places the city in what demographers tend to call "family-oriented" territory — old enough to have settled households, young enough to have children in them. Children under 18 account for 20.7 percent of the population, numbering 13,481 residents. The 35-to-64 cohort, at 23,718 people, forms the largest single age band. Total households number 28,956, of which 16,705 are family households, according to Census ACS 5-Year 2023.

The city's racial and ethnic composition, per the same Census source, includes 52,826 white residents, 10,393 Hispanic or Latino residents, 1,870 Black residents, and 804 Asian residents.

Housing and Affordability

Housing affordability in Cheyenne sits in a range that, compared to much of the American West, looks almost quaint. The home-price-to-income ratio is 4.2, which the derived Census analysis classifies as moderate. Renters spend an average of 15.8 percent of income on rent, a figure the same analysis rates as affordable. These numbers are derived from Census income, housing, and poverty data, and they reflect a city that has not yet experienced the kind of price compression that has made homeownership a theoretical exercise in coastal metros.

Climate

The NOAA ACIS station designated CHEYENNE WFO, located 0.5 miles from the city center, records an average temperature of 47.4 degrees Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 14.8 inches. That precipitation figure is worth sitting with for a moment: 14.8 inches is not much. It is less than Denver, less than Albuquerque, and roughly equivalent to the driest parts of the Texas Panhandle. Cheyenne is, in the technical sense, a semi-arid city, which is something its residents understand viscerally every time they water a lawn.

Air Quality

The EPA AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 366 measured days in Cheyenne. Of those, 271 were classified as good and 91 as moderate. Three days fell into the unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups category, and one day was classified as unhealthy. No very unhealthy or hazardous days were recorded. The maximum AQI reached 151 on the worst day of the year. For a city on the high plains with significant vehicle traffic and occasional wildfire smoke drifting in from neighboring states, this is a relatively clean air profile.

Broadband

According to FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025, broadband availability in Cheyenne is notable. Full coverage, meaning 100 percent of the city's 34,050 housing units, is served at the 25/3 Mbps threshold, the 100/20 Mbps threshold, and the 250/25 Mbps threshold. Coverage at the 1,000/100 Mbps tier reaches 63.3 percent of units. For a mid-sized Western city, this represents a broadband infrastructure that has kept pace with the upper tiers of residential service.

Education

Cheyenne is home to two post-secondary institutions tracked by NCES IPEDS 2022. The most prominent is Laramie County Community College, which enrolls 2,799 students, charges in-state tuition of $4,613 and out-of-state tuition of $10,913, and reports a completion rate of approximately 35 percent, per College Scorecard data. The college's open-admissions structure means it serves a broad cross-section of the regional workforce and population.

Wyoming's occupational licensing framework, codified at Wyo. Stat. § 21-2-801, provides that a professional licensing board shall issue a license to an applicant who holds a relevant, active license in good standing from another state, provided that state's requirements are substantially equivalent to or more stringent than Wyoming's. This reciprocity provision has practical relevance for workers relocating to Cheyenne from other states, though any specific licensing questions should be directed to the relevant Wyoming licensing board.

Civic and Nonprofit Infrastructure

The IRS Exempt Organizations BMF identifies the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce as the city's canonical business association. The same federal registry lists 37 religious congregations operating within the city, 6 arts organizations, including the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra and the Cheyenne Youth Symphony, and 12 civic service organizations, among them a Zonta International chapter and several animal welfare groups.

Animal welfare infrastructure includes three organizations identified through the IRS BMF: Cheyenne Animal Shelter Services Foundation, Black Dog Animal Rescue, and Cheyenne Animal Shelter-Services. Childcare infrastructure, per Wyoming state licensing data, includes 38 licensed childcare centers operating within the city.

Banking

FDIC branch data lists multiple banking institutions with Cheyenne locations, including Pinnacle Bank Wyoming's Dell Range Boulevard branch and Jonah Bank of Wyoming's Cheyenne branch, among others. The presence of both regional and community banking options reflects the city's role as the commercial center of Laramie County.

Municipal Governance and Code

Cheyenne operates under a municipal code maintained on Municode. The code includes a zoning ordinance, referenced in the corpus as defining "zoning ordinance" to mean the zoning ordinance of the city, a definition that is, on close inspection, exactly as circular as it sounds, though its practical function is to anchor cross-references throughout the broader code. The full text is accessible at https://library.municode.com/wy/cheyenne.

Wyoming's liquor licensing statute, at § 12-4-104, establishes that when an application for a license, permit, renewal, or transfer of location or ownership has been filed with a licensing authority, the clerk shall promptly prepare notice, with subsequent provisions governing grant, denial, and judicial review. This framework applies to any licensed establishment operating within Cheyenne's jurisdiction.

Further Reading

• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates — https://data.census.gov
• U.S. EPA, Air Quality Index Annual Summary 2024
• FCC, Broadband Data Collection, June 2025
• National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS Institutional Data 2022 — https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
• City of Cheyenne, Municipal Code — https://library.municode.com/wy/cheyenne