Economy Remains Major Concern in Wyoming says UW Survey

The state's economy remains a major concern of Wyomingites despite improvements over the last year. This is according to new results from a statewide poll conducted last fall.

When asked what the most pressing issue facing Wyoming, nearly one-third cited uncertainties with the energy industry, while another one-fifth identified weaknesses in the state’s economy as a whole.

Related to the strength of the state’s economy, one in 10 respondents saw the lack of tax revenue resulting from the weak economy as a major problem. Availability of health care and environmental issues made up the remainder of the five most frequently mentioned issues.

Economic issues also were the most frequently cited problems when the survey asked about local community problems. Here, over one-third of the participants cited the weak economy in their communities and the cost of housing. Drug and alcohol abuse, the availability of health care and infrastructure costs also were in the five most frequently mentioned issues.

The survey was conducted by the University of Wyoming’s School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies, and the UW Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center’s Survey Research Center. The 618 telephone interviews with Wyoming residents, selected at random, were conducted before the November general election. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Finally, respondents were asked about national problems. Here, their answers were dominated by overall concerns with political conflict (32 percent); unhappiness with either President Donald Trump and the Republican Party (12 percent); and for the Democratic Party and liberals (8 percent). Perhaps surprisingly, given its prominence in the 2018 presidential campaign, only 9 percent cited immigration as the most pressing problem at the national level.

Although not dominating answers in any of the three levels, availability and cost of health care was in the top five issues for all three levels of government.