CHEYENNE - Casper could overtake Cheyenne as Wyoming's largest city in a decade.

The Wyoming Economic Analysis Division says Casper has grown by about 8.7 percent since 2000, while Cheyenne has grown by about 6.7 percent.

Wenlin Liu of the state Department of Administration and Information says those growth rates will probably hold over the long run. If they do, Casper would overtake Cheyenne in 2019.

Estimates from the Economic Analysis Division put Cheyenne's current population at just under 57,000 and Casper's at a little over 54,000.

Those figures are for population inside the city limits and don't include outlying areas.

Liu says both cities are expected to see annual growth of about 1 percent, with slightly faster growth in Casper.