Sheridan County leads self-employment in Wyoming; state leads U.S.

SHERIDAN — A recent report showed Sheridan County held the highest percentage of self-employed jobs in Wyoming in 2022, and the state led the U.S. in self-employment.

Just over one-third of Wyoming’s 436,564 full-time and part-time jobs in 2022 were self-employed, according to the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information (WDAI) report. The data in the report came from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Wyoming was the state with the most self-employed jobs, and Sheridan County had the highest percentage — 50.4% — of self-employed jobs in the state, according to the report. Johnson County came a close second, with 47.4%.

Sheridan County residents Myca Sturtevant and her husband Nate Sturtevant are part of that 50.4%. Both are business owners who agreed they prefer self-employment because it allows them to spend more time with family, makes child care simpler and gives more flexibility to their schedules.

Myca Sturtevant said when she moved to Sheridan from Massachusetts in 2015 to be with her husband, her floral design business Whirly Girl Flowers was a “side gig.” Her primary source of income came from her job at a local nonprofit, but when her first child was born, she decided to make her business her main source of income so she could dedicate more time to her baby.

“In trying to figure out how I could contribute to my family and still be able to be home with our kids, I realized flowers might be my ticket to do that,” Myca Sturtevant said. She also said difficulty finding and affording child care in Sheridan pushed her to focus on her business full time.

“Navigating having child care was really stressful and really expensive,” she said. “So we just decided it wouldn’t necessarily cost our family any different for me to be home, and for me to grow my business, and also not have to take my baby somewhere else.”

Self-employed jobs in Wyoming grew 32.2% from 2019-2022, according to the WDAI report, while wage and salary employment decreased 2.4% during that time. Sheridan County has also had one of the highest rates of population increase in Wyoming since 2020, according to WDAI statistics.

Wenlin Liu, chief economist for the WDAI economic analysis division, said some of the increase in both population and self-employment can be attributed to COVID-19 migration trends. As the virus spread, many people opted for remote work and moved to lower-density areas of the U.S.

Nate Sturtevant started his business, Northern Wyoming Surveys, in the spring of 2020 as COVID-19 emerged. He said the pandemic made it more challenging to grow a company, and resources for business owners were harder to access. But the couple agreed pushing through the struggle was worth it — they said ultimately, self-employment is best for their family because it allows them to experience all Sheridan County has to offer more frequently.

“In Sheridan County, it’s really awesome to have your own business with a family, because you’re able to set your schedule a little bit different than normal working hours,” Nate Sturtevant said. “You’re able to spend that Friday afternoon going to the mountain to go fish with your kids, or to go skiing, or to take a little bit of family time.”

“I moved here because I love somebody and he lives here, and if that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be operating my business here. But honestly, I wouldn’t want to go back,” Myca Sturtevant added. “Because we’re self-employed, we take advantage of being able to walk downtown … and grab a coffee or have a meeting. Those are all perks of having our own businesses in Sheridan County, and specifically here in town.”

Wyoming was one of a few states, including North Dakota and Alaska, where there was a lower number of wage and salary jobs in 2022 than in 2012. But even as employment in the mining and government sectors decreased, service sectors like financial activities, business services and hospitality grew during the recent decade, according to the report. This diversified the state’s economic structure, which Liu said helps improve economic stability.

Liu said the growth trend of self-employment will likely continue through the next few years, though the speed of the increase may slow down as the U.S. recovers from COVID-19 and some workers return to the office. But Wyoming will still see a large number of self-employed workers, he said.

“Besides the state’s favorable tax policies, low cost of living and abundant natural resources and open spaces, Wyoming has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and supportive business environment, making it an attractive destination for self-employed individuals,” Liu said.

In Wyoming, the real estate and rental industry held the highest proportion of self-employed jobs with 87.6%. The finance-insurance and farming industries came second and third, respectively.

The nationwide share of self-employment was 25.6% in 2022; Montana, Florida and Texas were the only states other than Wyoming that exceeded a 29% self-employment rate.