Statutory cap, exemptions, and notice rules under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316
There is no legal limit on how much a Wyoming landlord can raise the rent — and no Wyoming city or town is allowed to create one. State law, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316, prohibits rent control, which means the ordinances you may have heard about in coastal states simply cannot exist in Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, or anywhere else in the state. A landlord who wants to raise rent from the statewide average of $986 to any higher figure faces no percentage ceiling, no inflation formula, and no rent board.
That does not mean a rent increase is lawful in every circumstance. Wyoming landlords are still bound by the lease they signed, by the notice a tenancy requires before its terms change, and by federal fair-housing and anti-retaliation principles. Wyoming scores 2.5 out of 10 on our tenant-protection index — among the most landlord-friendly frameworks we track — so the details below are the entire rulebook. Learn them well, because there is no cap behind them.
Rent control in Wyoming is not merely absent — it is forbidden. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316 prohibits rent control, taking the question out of local hands entirely. A city council in Jackson or Cheyenne could hold hearings, pass a resolution, even adopt an ordinance capping increases, and it would be void the moment a landlord challenged it. This is why the debate you see in other states — which buildings are covered, what the annual formula is, whether new construction is exempt — has no Wyoming equivalent. There are no covered buildings because there is no coverage. For tenants, the practical consequence is that negotiating power comes from the market and the lease, not from an ordinance. For landlords, it means pricing decisions are business decisions, reviewed by no agency and subject to no registry.
Three constraints remain, and they all come from contract law rather than price regulation:
An uncapped market is not a lawless one, and the mistakes we see in preemption states cluster in three places. First, mid-lease increases: raising rent before a fixed term expires, without an escalation clause, is a breach of the lease — the tenant can refuse to pay the increase and hold the landlord to the signed rate. Second, discriminatory increases: under federal fair-housing law, a raise targeted at tenants because of race, national origin, disability, familial status, religion, or sex is illegal even though the amount itself is unregulated. Third, retaliatory timing: an increase that lands immediately after a tenant files a fair-housing complaint or asserts a legal right invites a claim that the number was a punishment, not a price. In each case the exposure comes from why and when the rent went up, never from how much.
With no statute setting a ceiling, the ceiling is the market — and Wyoming's market is comparatively gentle. The statewide average rent is $986, low enough that even an aggressive percentage increase translates into fewer absolute dollars than the same percentage would in a high-cost state. That is the economics behind the politics: legislatures rarely feel pressure to cap rents where rents are modest, and Wyoming's 2.5 out of 10 on our tenant-protection index reflects a state that has chosen contract freedom across the board — no rent cap, and no just-cause requirement limiting non-renewals either. A landlord can decline to renew a month-to-month tenancy without stating a reason, which in practice makes the renewal conversation, not any statute, the moment where Wyoming rents are set. Use the calculator above to model an increase against your own starting rent.
| Rule | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide cap | N/A, rent control banned | Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316 |
| 2025 maximum increase | No limit | |
| Notice required | Typically 30-60 days written notice | State landlord-tenant law |
| Retaliation prohibited | Yes, increases cannot be retaliatory or discriminatory | Federal Fair Housing Act + state law |
There is no limit. Wyoming has no statewide rent cap, and Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316 prohibits rent control, so no city can impose one. The only constraints are the lease itself, proper written notice for month-to-month tenancies, and fair-housing and anti-retaliation rules.
No. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316 prohibits rent control, which blocks every city, town, and county in the state from adopting a cap. Unlike states where preemption merely discourages local action, Wyoming's ban means a local rent-control ordinance would be void from the start.
Wyoming statutes do not set a dedicated rent-increase notice period, so the lease controls. For month-to-month tenancies, the accepted practice is written notice at least one full rental period before the new rate begins. A tenant who keeps paying after proper notice is treated as accepting the new rent.
Not unless the lease says so. A fixed-term lease locks the rent for the term; raising it early without an escalation clause is a breach of contract, and you can insist on the signed rate until the term ends. Once the lease expires or converts to month-to-month, the landlord may propose any new amount with proper notice.
This guide was researched and written by the Eviction Risk Map research team based on Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316 and the landlord-tenant provisions published by the Wyoming Legislature. Last reviewed July 2026. It is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice; consult a Wyoming attorney about your specific situation.
Statutory data sourced from published Wyoming law (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-316), BLS Consumer Price Index (2024-2025), and state agency publications. Census ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates for average rent. Last updated July 14, 2026. This page is informational only and does not constitute legal advice.
