Best States for Off-Grid Living / Wyoming
Wyoming · off-grid scores, county by county · 2026
Which Wyoming counties score best for off-grid living?
Of the 23 Wyoming counties we have scored, Converse County scores highest at 79 and Washakie County lowest at 63. Wyoming ranks 43rd of 50 overall, at 71 out of 100 (Significant challenges). Buildability separates its counties most: 3 to 10 out of 10.
Updated 2026-09-27 · 23 counties · 211 spots of private rural land scored
Significant challengesWyoming ranks 43rd of 50, 71 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #39 and #44. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.
Every scored county in Wyoming, best score first
| Converse → 3 people / sq mi | 79 | 14 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 10 |
| Laramie → 38 people / sq mi | 77 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 6 | 10 |
| Niobrara → under 1 person / sq mi | 77 | 13 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 10 |
| Platte → 4 people / sq mi | 77 | 13 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 10 |
| Goshen → 6 people / sq mi | 75 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 10 |
| Natrona → 15 people / sq mi | 75 | 13 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 10 |
| Uinta → 10 people / sq mi | 75 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 9 |
| Weston → 3 people / sq mi | 75 | 13 | 19 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 7 |
| Crook → 3 people / sq mi | 74 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 10 |
| Carbon → 2 people / sq mi | 73 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 10 |
| Park → 4 people / sq mi | 73 | 14 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 6 | 9 |
| Teton → 6 people / sq mi | 73 | 16 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 9 |
| Albany → 9 people / sq mi | 72 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| Big Horn → 4 people / sq mi | 72 | 9 | 20 | 13 | 15 | 5 | 10 |
| Campbell → 10 people / sq mi | 72 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 10 |
| Fremont → 4 people / sq mi | 71 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 8 |
| Lincoln → 5 people / sq mi | 71 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 10 |
| Sublette → 2 people / sq mi | 71 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| Sheridan → 13 people / sq mi | 69 | 11 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 5 | 7 |
| Johnson → 2 people / sq mi | 68 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 7 |
| Hot Springs → 2 people / sq mi | 63 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 3 |
| Sweetwater → 4 people / sq mi | 63 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 3 | 7 |
| Washakie → 3 people / sq mi | 63 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 10 |
Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.
Where the good land is
6% of Wyoming's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Converse, Laramie and Niobrara. The weakest are Hot Springs, Sweetwater and Washakie. Where the land falls short, it is most often on growing food (season, soil and water for crops) and water (rain, wells and salty or weak wells).
What separates them
- Buildability: Converse County scores 10 of 10, Hot Springs County 3. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
- Water: Teton County scores 16 of 25, Washakie County 5. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
- Food: Crook County scores 8 of 15, Sweetwater County 3. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
- Solar: Converse County scores 15 of 15, Teton County 11. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
- Hazard: Converse County scores 15 of 15, Teton County 11. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
- Legal: Teton County scores 20 of 20, Washakie County 15. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.
The state's soft spot
Food is Wyoming's weakest dimension, at 6 of 15 for the state as a whole. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $32k to $114k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Wyoming row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.
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Before you buy in Wyoming
The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Wyoming? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.
Significant challengesWyoming: 71 of 100, 43rd of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.
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