Popular
Demographics of Cody, WY
Affluence Level in Cody, WY
A middle-class area roughly in line with national averages across income, home values, education, and employment.
People of Cody, WY
The people of Cody, Wyoming, today number roughly 10,100, forming a community that is notably homogenous by national standards: 91% white, with a Hispanic population of 4.7% and a foreign-born share of just 1.2%. The city retains a distinct Western ranching and tourism identity, shaped by its history as a gateway to Yellowstone National Park and its roots in the vision of showman Buffalo Bill Cody. With 40.3% of adults holding a college degree, the population is more educated than the state average, reflecting an economy anchored by the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the Cody Regional Health system, and a growing cohort of remote workers drawn to the area's outdoor recreation and conservative values.
How the city was settled and grew
Cody was founded in 1896 by Colonel William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, who saw the Shoshone River valley as a natural hub for irrigation agriculture and tourism. The town was platted along the railroad line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which arrived in 1901 and brought the first major wave of settlers: Midwestern farmers and ranchers of German, Scandinavian, and English descent. These early homesteaders built the core of what is now the Historic Downtown Cody District, centered on Sheridan Avenue, where many original sandstone and brick storefronts still stand. The Shoshone Land and Irrigation Company, backed by Buffalo Bill, opened the Cody Canal in 1897, drawing a second wave of dryland farmers from Nebraska and Kansas into the South Fork Valley and the Powell area (now a separate town). By 1910, Cody's population had reached 1,132, and the town had established itself as a supply center for the surrounding ranches. The completion of the Buffalo Bill Dam in 1910 and the subsequent expansion of irrigated farmland brought a smaller wave of Italian and Irish laborers who settled in modest homes along the west end of 17th Street, an area that remains a working-class residential pocket today.
Modern era (post-1965)
After the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, Cody saw virtually no influx of new immigrant groups; the foreign-born share has remained below 2% for decades. Instead, the city's modern growth has been driven by domestic in-migration from other parts of the Mountain West and the Midwest. The 1970s and 1980s brought a wave of retirees and second-home buyers, many from Colorado and California, who built subdivisions on the benchlands north of the Shoshone River. The Skyline Drive neighborhood, developed in the 1970s on the hills above the historic core, became the preferred area for these newcomers, offering panoramic views and larger lots. The 1990s and 2000s saw a surge of tourism-related employment, drawing younger families from Montana and Idaho into the Mountain View Addition and Sunset Addition subdivisions on the city's east side. These neighborhoods, built on former ranchland, feature mid-priced single-family homes and are now home to many of the city's schoolteachers, park rangers, and hospitality workers. The Hispanic population, while small at 4.7%, has grown modestly since 2000, concentrated among service-industry workers living in rental duplexes and apartments along Yellowstone Avenue near the hospital and the Walmart shopping center. The East/Southeast Asian community (0.4%) and Black community (0.3%) are tiny and dispersed, with no identifiable ethnic enclave; most are professionals employed by the hospital or the National Park Service.
The future
Cody's population is projected to grow slowly, reaching roughly 11,000 by 2040, driven primarily by domestic migration of remote workers and retirees seeking a conservative, low-crime environment. The city is not becoming more diverse in any meaningful sense; the white share has held steady above 90% for two decades, and the Hispanic share is rising only incrementally. New residential development is concentrated in the North Cody area, where the city has annexed land for master-planned subdivisions like Ponderosa Estates, aimed at out-of-state buyers and second-home owners. These newer neighborhoods are more affluent and less integrated with the historic downtown, reinforcing a cultural divide between longtime ranching families and newer amenity migrants. The city's cultural identity is evolving from a working ranch town toward a tourism-and-retirement destination, but the political and social character remains deeply conservative, with local governance focused on limiting growth and preserving open space. For someone moving in now, Cody offers a stable, safe, and culturally cohesive community, but one where newcomers are expected to adapt to existing norms rather than reshape them.
In short, Cody is a slow-growing, predominantly white, conservative-leaning city where the population is becoming slightly more educated and affluent but not significantly more diverse. The city's future lies in balancing its historic ranching and tourism roots with the demands of an incoming wave of remote workers and retirees, who are settling in newer subdivisions on the periphery. For a relocating individual or family, Cody offers a tight-knit, low-crime environment with strong schools and outdoor access, but little racial or ethnic diversity and a cultural expectation of assimilation into the existing Western ethos.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-06-21T12:31:12.000Z
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