The Most Okay Things About Living in Casper, Wyoming

When you are considering a move to a new city, you want to know exactly what you are getting into. No amount of research fully prepares you for living somewhere new, but doing your homework is the next best thing. This is the last part of a three-part series on the good, the bad, and the okay parts of living in Casper. No place is perfect, so here are the most okay things about calling this city home.

The Alisha Collins Real Estate Team likes to keep it real about the trade-offs, because that is how people end up happy with where they land. For the full rundown on a move, see our Wyoming relocation guide, and explore the city itself on the Casper area page.

Healthcare is one of the most okay things about Casper. The city has two hospitals, Banner Health and Summit Medical Center, which is a real advantage compared with many smaller Wyoming towns that have far fewer options. But these are not full-service medical centers. Banner Health does not have a neonatal intensive care unit, so high-risk pregnancies or premature births with complications sometimes mean being flown to Denver.

If you need a specialist, you may end up searching for the nearest one and packing a bag. There are independent practices in the area covering everything from dermatology to family medicine, which adds some competition, but only one location offers emergency services unless you drive about 50 miles to Douglas. Compared with smaller towns, though, Casper is practically a medical hub.

Wyoming has several community colleges, including Casper College right here in town, and it is a genuinely good one. What the state has only one of is a four-year university, the University of Wyoming, whose main campus is in Laramie, roughly three hours south. There is an outreach campus in Casper, but if a student's major is not offered here, they have to leave the area for it.

Keep in mind that winter road closures are common, and Laramie sits on I-80, which shuts down often. The WYDOT 511 app helps with trip planning, and weather permitting you can drive down for a visit or a University of Wyoming football game at War Memorial Stadium in the fall.

If you love athletics, Casper's high school rivalries are the biggest games in town. The Kelly Walsh versus Natrona County matchups in football, volleyball, and basketball draw big, high-energy crowds. The Peach Basket basketball rivalry is usually held at the college gym because it seats more people. There are no professional teams on the horizon, so around here, high school sports are the Super Bowl.

Then there is the driving. In a lot of states, one town blends into the next. Wyoming is not like that. Riverton is about 120 miles away with almost nothing in between, just you, the road, and the view. Fill up before you leave, because the next gas station can be a long way off. Living here, you get used to long stretches of open road, and plenty of people count that as a perk. For more on the trade-offs, our pros and cons of living in Casper lays them side by side, and the cost of living in Casper covers the budget side.

Now for real estate. A majority of homes in Casper have basements, which is a bonus for storage, extra rooms, or a cool hangout space. A lot of the country does not build basements at all, which limits usable square footage, so this is a quiet plus. But there is a catch: radon.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that tends to collect in basements and crawl spaces, though it can show up in homes without basements too. The good news is that radon mitigation systems are common, typically affordable, and can be negotiated into a real estate deal. It is not a deal breaker, just one more okay aspect of living here. If you are weighing older homes against newer builds, our comparison of new construction versus existing homes in Casper is worth a look. Whatever you are trying to figure out about this city, we are glad to help. Tell us what you are weighing and we will give you the honest version.