Bar Nunn again was the fastest growing town in Wyoming, according to 2008 census data released this week.

The town north of Casper nearly doubled in population since 2000, going from fewer than 1,000 residents to 1,828 in only eight years, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

The 95 percent population increase surprised even Wenlin Liu, economist with the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information's Economic Analysis Division.

"I think it has something to do with Wyoming's economic growth, particularly for the past five years," Liu said. "Population growth is best driven by employment increases, particularly in natural gas. That's why you'll see fastest increase in the southwest and northeast parts of the state… Because Casper is the center of the state and close to these, it benefits from the energy development. Bar Nunn is a small town close to Casper, and so people want to enjoy the small-town living, and they can easily do so in Bar Nunn and work in or near Casper."

Numerically, Casper saw the second largest increase in cities in the state, up 1.9 percent in 2008 for a total 8.7 percent increase since 2000. Gillette increased its upward trend as the fastest-growing city in the state. Its population increased 6.3 percent in 2008, and 32.4 percent since the 2000 census.

More towns should expect to see stunted growth during 2009, Liu said.

"The main reason the population increased was employment increase, so as our employment increase is slowing down - we're already showing an annual decline - that means our population increase will slow down too," Liu said. "We still have a relatively low unemployment rate, so that should be an advantage for attracting people from out of state."

Because the economic downturn is different from Wyoming's bust of the 1980s and '90s, in that it's a national recession, the population will likely shift in different ways, he said.

"Now, because of the national recession, even though Wyoming doesn't have as much of a job increase, people probably aren't leaving because you have nowhere to go if you're looking for employment," he said. "So people will not be leaving the state because our unemployment is still relatively low. We'll probably still see more people moving into the state than leaving the state, just not as big as in the past two years."

Wyoming's job market from 2005 to 2008 increased at the fastest rate in the nation.

Contact Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com.

By the numbers

2008 population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau for Wyoming cities and the top 10 towns in terms of growth from 2007:

2008 Pct. growth Pct. growth

City since 2007 since 2000

Gillette 26,287 6.3 31.5

Douglas 5,971 5.2 12.3

Buffalo 4,832 5.0 23.1

Evanston 11,781 2.9 3.2

Rock Springs 20,200 2.6 8.7

Sheridan 17,197 2.5 8.2

Newcastle 3,390 2.3 4.3

Riverton 10,032 2.2 8.4

Casper 54,047 1.9 8.7

Lander 7,264 1.9 5.1

Kemmerer 2,468 1.7 -6.7

Rawlins 8,740 1.4 -2.5

Laramie 27,664 1.3 2.2

Cody 9,309 1.3 4.8

Cheyenne 56,915 1.2 6.5

Powell 5,524 0.9 2.6

Torrington 5,514 0.7 -4.6

Green River 12,149 0.5 3.3

Worland 4,940 0.4 5.8

Town

Bar Nunn 1,828 7.6 95.1

Marbleton 1,084 7.1 35.3

Ranchester 798 6.3 13.7

Alpine 810 6.0 45.7

Pine Haven 380 5.3 69.6

Pinedale 2,162 5.2 53.3

La Barge 466 4.5 8.4

Afton 1,864 4.4 0.6

Manville 100 4.2 0.0

Thayne 370 3.9 8.2