Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,721, settled in 1895. 2.3 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Wyoming town.
Thermopolis gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $214K, 3.5 years of the county’s $61K median household income. It grades A− overall, 6th of 28 graded towns in Wyoming. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 84% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the plus side, it reports less crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns. Thermopolis’ trail density is 5.4 miles per square mile, where Wyoming’s towns sit at 1.2 and U.S. towns at 0.4. On walkability, just 3 of Wyoming’s 57 towns do better. Thermopolis's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 100% of U.S. towns.
Where Thermopolis beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wyoming), ordered by how far Thermopolis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 299 in 1900, a peak of 3,955 in 1960, 2,725 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1914 and 2 maps from 1960 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Thermopolis, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Thermopolis.
Thermopolis pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Wyoming norm and has more 90° days than almost anywhere else in Wyoming, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Wyoming (mostly inland flooding).
14 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Hot Springs State Park, 380 acres with 7.7 miles of trail. More trails than any other town in Wyoming.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hot Springs State Park | 7.7 mi | 380 |
| 2. Candy Jack Park | 0.4 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Hot Springs County School District #1. Its three schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ralph Witters ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 214 | A− |
| Hot Springs County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 184 | C+ |
| Thermopolis Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 186 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WY on state tests and graduation
At 7.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 100% of Wyoming’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
Thermopolis’ violent crime rate is 0.7 per 1,000 residents, below both Wyoming’s towns (1.6) and U.S. towns (1.6). Only 1 of the 20 Wyoming towns we compare have a lower property crime rate than Thermopolis.
| Thermopolis | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.6 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.6 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Thermopolis grades A− overall with a typical home of about $214K, below the Wyoming typical value; only 4 of the 6 Wyoming towns graded A− or better can say that. Home values rose 44% in five years, to about $214K, against 25% across Wyoming.
The typical Thermopolis home is worth about $214,000, up 2.7% in a year, 42% below the Wyoming typical home. Thermopolis’ median rent is $835 a month.
| Thermopolis | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $835 a month | $928 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Wyoming towns, with expected losses of about $761 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Of the 28 Wyoming towns we compare, none has a higher FEMA risk score than Thermopolis.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Thermopolis weather station records that about 55 days a year reach 90°, the #2 highest of 200 Wyoming places with climate records. The Thermopolis weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 152 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 99% of Wyoming places with climate records.
Thermopolis has cold winters and warm summers, with very little rain. The July high in Thermopolis is 90°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
53% of Thermopolis’s working residents work right in town. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Thermopolis. Jobs based in Thermopolis fell to 1,302 in 2023, 311 fewer than in 2013.
| Thermopolis | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 9.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 15 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
24% of Thermopolis residents are 65 or older. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across Wyoming.
| Thermopolis | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 29% | 23% | 29% |
| Median age | 40.5 years | 37.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 24% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4 points. Across Wyoming, 48.9% of residents are women.
| Thermopolis | WY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.5% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.7% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.2% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.6% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.3% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.3% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.1% | 12.7% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.9% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 5.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.2% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.7% | 24.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.2% | 11.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.1% | 19.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.2% | 11.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,700, single groups can be off by several points
Against the 9,971 U.S. towns with household incomes like Thermopolis’s, it is healthier than 65%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Thermopolis beats the Wyoming average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 10. Only 1 of the 28 Wyoming towns we compare have a lower share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Thermopolis.
| Thermopolis | Wyoming towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 68% | 79% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Thermopolis | WY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.7% | 73% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.1% | 12.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Thermopolis; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Thermopolis residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wyoming.
5 places in Thermopolis on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Wyoming, United States
Thermopolis is the county seat and most populous town in Hot Springs County, Wyoming, United States. As of the 2020 census, Thermopolis had a population of 2,725. Thermopolis, Greek for "hot city", is the location of numerous natural hot springs, in which mineral-laden waters are heated by geothermal processes. The town claims the world's largest mineral hot spring, "The Big Spring", as part of Hot Springs State Park. The springs are open to the public for free as part of an 1896 treaty signed with the Shoshone and Arapaho Indian tribes.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Thermopolis.
| Town | WY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermopolis | #6 | A− | B+ | A− | B+ | B− |
| East Thermopolis | — | — | — | — | — | — |
East Thermopolis isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Thermopolis with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Thermopolis grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #6 of 28 in Wyoming. It grades B− for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools, and has the most trail per square mile in the state. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
2 notable people were born here, including Dave Freudenthal and Bruce Kellogg.
