April 28, 2025
More births, deaths and marriages and fewer divorces were officially noted among Wyoming residents in 2024 compared to 2023, according to Vital Statistics Services (VSS) records. VSS is part of the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH).
VSS totals for 2024 are considered provisional; minor adjustments and updates in totals are normal and expected over time.
Official birth certificate data show 6,079 births recorded among Wyoming resident mothers in 2024, which is an increase over 5,989 births in 2023. There were 6,050 births in 2022, 6,240 births in 2021, 6,132 births in 2020 and 6,568 births in 2019.
VSS records also show how many births specifically occurred within Wyoming. In 2024, there were 5,281 births within the state compared to 5,337 in 2023, 5,371 in 2022, 5,656 in 2021, 5,626 in 2020 and 5,924 in 2019.
Kyndra Herrera, deputy state registrar with VSS, noted births to Wyoming resident mothers can occur within the state or in other locations. “While a small number of births happen within the state to mothers who are not Wyoming residents, it is reasonable to assume the difference between resident and occurrent births is largely explained by Wyoming mothers traveling to other states to deliver their babies,” she said.
Among Wyoming residents, there were 5,725 deaths recorded in 2024, 5,566 deaths in 2023, 5,895 deaths in 2022, 6,574 deaths in 2021, 5,986 deaths in 2020 and 5,122 deaths in 2019, according to official death certificate information. Death certificates are completed by medical certifiers, funeral professionals and coroners before being filed with VSS.
The top five causes of death for Wyoming residents in 2024, listed in order, were heart diseases, cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and related conditions, various types of accidents and adverse effects and cerebrovascular diseases. “There was no change in Wyoming’s top causes of death as compared to 2023,” Herrera said.
WDH Director Stefan Johansson said, “While not among Wyoming’s top causes of death, two specific areas of interest in our state continue to be suicide and overdose deaths. The tragic and unexpected nature of these deaths can have big impacts within our communities.”
Johansson said caution is necessary when reviewing these statistics. “It’s not realistic to describe changes in counts from one year to the next as trends. Our small population in Wyoming naturally leads to volatility in totals between years,” he said.
Among Wyoming’s resident deaths, there were 168 suicide deaths in 2024 compared to 156 in 2023, 155 in 2022, 190 in 2021, 182 in 2020 and170 in 2019.
Wyoming’s provisional data show about 88 percent of Wyoming’s resident suicide deaths in 2024 were among males. About 72 percent of suicide deaths involved firearms, roughly 12 percent involved hanging and more than 8 percent involved poisoning.
There were 97 overdose deaths recorded among Wyoming residents in 2024 compared to 120 in 2023, 110 in 2022, 98 in 2021, 90 in 2020 and 81 in 2019.
Among the reported overdose deaths in 2024, 62 percent were linked with illicit drugs, 31 percent with prescription drugs and 3 percent involved a combination. Opioids can be either prescription drugs or illicit drugs and were connected to 45 of the reported overdose deaths last year. Methamphetamine was linked with 48 of the deaths and fentanyl was linked with 21. Because drug overdose deaths sometimes involve more than one drug, a single death is sometimes included in more than one category.
VSS also holds marriage and divorce records. There were 4,493 marriages recorded in Wyoming last year compared to 4,093 in 2023, 4,273 in 2022, 4,286 in 2021, 4,016 in 2020 and 4,065 in 2019. As far as divorces, there were 1,901 completed in 2024, 1,959 in 2023, 1,949 in 2022, 2,183 in 2021, 2,220 in 2020 and 2,241 in 2019.
VSS promotes and protects the health of Wyoming residents by serving as the official custodian of all vital records in the state and by distributing health information. For more details about VSS, visit https://health.wyo.gov/admin/vitalstatistics/ online.
