Natrona County is a county in Wyoming, United States, centred on the Platte River valley in the state’s central plains. It had a population of 79,955 at the 2020 census, the second-highest total of any Wyoming county, and covers 5,376 square miles (13,927 km2) — 5,340 square miles (13,830 km2) of land and 35 square miles (91 km2) of water — centred near 42°58′N 106°48′W.<\/p>\n
Casper is the county seat, and its postal code is 82601. The county has five incorporated towns besides Casper, plus more than a dozen unincorporated communities, and runs on Mountain Time.<\/p>\n
Casper is Natrona County’s only incorporated city; five smaller places hold town status, and the rest of the list below is unincorporated communities and named places — some active settlements, some historic sites or ranch localities that still appear on maps and in mail routing. CDP = census-designated place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no formal town government.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casper<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 59,038<\/td>\n | 82601–82609<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Mills<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 4,257<\/td>\n | 82644<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bar Nunn<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 3,001<\/td>\n | 82601<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Evansville<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 2,436<\/td>\n | 82636<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Midwest<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 404<\/td>\n | 82643<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Edgerton<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 145<\/td>\n | 82635<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Alcova<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 82620<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hiland<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 82638<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Powder River<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 82648<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Arminto<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 82630<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Natrona<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 82646<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Waltman<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bessemer Bend<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Casper Mountain<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Red Butte<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bishop<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Goose Egg<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Antelope Hills<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Paradise Valley<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Mountain View<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Bar Nunn and Evansville sit hard against Casper’s north and east edges and function as bedroom towns rather than separate service centers; Midwest and Edgerton, by contrast, are 40 miles northwest near the old Salt Creek oil field and remain distinct communities with their own post offices. Several names carried on older lists — Air Base Acres, Beck Place, Brookhurst, Bucknum, Camel Hump, Cow Hollow, Crimson Dawn, Homa Hills, Meadow Acres, Midwest Heights, Osborne Place, Petrie, Raderville, Red Buttes Village, Richardson Acres, Strouds, Swaim Place, Thorndale Acres, Vista West, Allendale and “Alcova Po” — are subdivisions, ranch addresses, or duplicate\/garbled entries rather than distinct populated places with independent verification, and are omitted here; see notes.md for the full accounting.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nSmaller unincorporated places without their own post office, such as Waltman and Bessemer Bend, use a neighboring town’s ZIP for mail.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nNatrona County spans a broad stretch of central Wyoming’s high plains and basin country, split by the North Platte River as it runs northeast through Casper toward the Nebraska line. The Casper Mountain range rises just south of the city, and the county’s western reaches climb into the foothills of the Rattlesnake and Bridger ranges before dropping into the Wind River Basin. Public land — BLM range and national forest — covers much of the county outside the Platte valley.<\/p>\n Natrona County borders Johnson County to the north, Converse County to the east, Albany County to the southeast, Carbon County to the south, Fremont County to the west, and Washakie County to the northwest. See Johnson County<\/a>, Converse County<\/a>, Albany County<\/a>, Carbon County<\/a>, Fremont County<\/a>, and Washakie County<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 2020 census counted 79,955 residents in Natrona County, with Casper (59,038) and Mills (4,257) the two largest communities — together home to more than three-quarters of the county’s population. Median household income runs below the Wyoming median of $72,415, reflecting Casper’s mixed oilfield-service and retail economy. Population density is roughly 15 people per square mile, concentrated almost entirely in the Casper metro area, with the western two-thirds of the county sparsely settled ranch and rangeland.<\/p>\n Casper is Wyoming’s second-largest city and the commercial hub for a wide swath of central Wyoming, historically built on oil — the nearby Salt Creek field made Midwest and Edgerton company towns in the early 1900s, and refining and oilfield services remain part of the local economy alongside newer wind-energy and data-center investment. Wyoming Medical Center (now Banner Health’s Wyoming Medical Center) and Casper College anchor healthcare and education employment. The Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo, held each summer in Casper, is the county’s largest annual event.<\/p>\n Natrona County was created by the Wyoming Territorial legislature on March 9, 1888, from land taken out of Carbon County, and organized as a functioning county government in 1890 — two years before Wyoming’s own statehood settled the boundary lines that still hold today. Its name comes from natron, a sodium-carbonate mineral once mined nearby. Casper grew up around a North Platte River crossing and a military post, Fort Caspar, established in 1865 to guard the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails and the Pony Express route through the valley; the fort’s name, misspelled in later records, became the city’s. The discovery of oil at Salt Creek in the early 1900s turned Casper into a boomtown and, for a stretch of the 20th century, one of the country’s leading refining centers.<\/p>\n Interstate 25 runs the length of the county through Casper, meeting U.S. Highways 20, 26, 87, and 287 at the city; Wyoming’s state highway network fans out from there toward Alcova, Powder River, and the Salt Creek towns.<\/p>\n Casper-Natrona County International Airport (CPR) offers commercial flights and sits just west of the city.<\/p>\n Where is Natrona County?<\/strong> What is the population of Natrona County?<\/strong> How big is Natrona County?<\/strong> What is the Natrona County seat?<\/strong> How many towns are in Natrona County?<\/strong> |