Four systems, and Wyoming uses the more common threshold
American fault law splits into four real categories: pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar, modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar, and pure contributory negligence. Wyoming uses the 51% bar under Wyo. Stat. § 1-1-109(b) — the more typical of the two modified thresholds nationally.
The 50/51 distinction, precisely
A claimant found exactly 50% responsible still recovers half of their damages under Wyoming's rule, because the bar applies only once fault exceeds 50% of the total fault of all actors. A claimant found 51% responsible recovers nothing at all.
Where Wyoming genuinely departs from many peers
Wyoming shares its 51% threshold with roughly 20 other states — but several of those states still impose some form of joint and several liability once a given defendant's fault crosses its own threshold. Wyoming doesn't. Liability among defendants stays several only, no matter how high any one defendant's share of fault runs. See our full guide to how fault and liability work together in Wyoming for what this means in practice.
The other two systems, for context
At the more generous end, pure comparative negligence states like California never bar recovery for ordinary fault at all. At the far stricter end, a small handful of contributory negligence jurisdictions, like Virginia, bar recovery entirely for any fault, even 1%. See our guide to the other states using a 51% bar for Wyoming's closest peer group nationally.