Despite the boom, young workers are no more likely to remain in Wyoming than they were a decade ago.

An analysis by the Research and Planning Section of the Wyoming Department of Employment tracked workers age 16 to 34 from 1992 to 1997 to see how many were still working in the state at the end of that time.

The number dropped from 112,318 in 1992 to 68,065 in 1997, declining at an average rate of 7.9 percent.

When the same analysis was performed for the period from 2000 to 2005, the number of 16- to 34-year-old workers in the state dropped from 116,229 to 71,102, or an average of 7.6 percent.

Tom Gallagher, manager of Research and Planning, said it came as a surprise that despite low unemployment and rapid job growth, the pace at which young people left was essentially the same as during the non-boom 1990s.

In another report, senior research analyst Sylvia Jones found a decrease in the number of residents under age 45, which was particularly pronounced in the under-20 and 20-to-24 age groups.

"We're exporting our well-educated young people and replacing them with blue-collar workers who really have no attachment, and no interest in being attached, to this state," she said.

In 2006, 45.5 percent of nonresidents worked in the state six months or less; only 29.5 percent lasted longer than a year.

In construction, 53.5 percent of nonresidents worked six months or less, while the figure in natural resources and mining was 43.7 percent.

For reasons that are not clear, nonresidents, both men and women who eventually do become state residents earn more than their counterparts who were here all along.

Gallagher said people already established in small towns may not want to risk taking higher-paying jobs elsewhere during a boom. People also may be recruited from out of state for higher-paying jobs associated with the boom.

He added that some of the major energy companies apparently are posting specialized people in the state only for relatively short periods as such individuals move up within their respective organizations.

Transplants can affect community life, Gallagher said. Recent residents may not have the same family ties and historical attachments as long-time residents, so building a problem-solving consensus can be more difficult.

"The economy is going to drive the population," Gallagher said, "especially in a smaller state."