The region by the numbers

The population of the world is aging as the youngest of the Baby Boomers inch closer to 60.

Thanks to major strides in health care, people are living longer. Once the dominant group that created much of the world we know today, Boomers are slowly moving over to allow the Millennials — now the world’s largest generation — to take over.

There’s another generation, though, predicted to be even larger than the Millennials — the Homelanders or Generation Z, the children of the Millennials who are now between 5-19 years old, and Carson City has a good share of these Homelanders as is evidenced by the schools almost at capacity.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts 2016, in Carson City those under 18 (Homelanders) and those over 65 (Baby Boomers) are equal in representation at 20.3 percent in each category. That means almost 60 percent of the current population falls between 18-65. The population as of 2016 was 54,472.

In contrast, Washoe County, with a population of 453,616, has a population mix of 22 percent under 18 and 15.6 percent over 65. The advantage in Washoe, other than the 400,000-spread in population, is that it is a university town attracting younger students and with the current explosion of highly sought-after tech jobs, younger workers are flocking to Washoe. Washoe County is more aligned with the national averages: 22.8 percent under 18 and 15.2 percent over 65.

Douglas County with a population of 48,020 weighs in at 26.5 percent over 65 and 17.5 percent under 18. Statistics show it to be one of the most senior counties within the state.

The ethnic mix has Douglas with 81 percent white alone and 12.5 percent Hispanic; Washoe with 63.4 percent white alone and 24.2 percent Hispanic. Carson City has a population of 67.9 percent white alone and 23.6 percent Hispanic making it more in line with Washoe County.

As the richest county within the state, Douglas County has one of the highest average cost of housing in the region with Gardnerville leading the stats at $439,000 average of currently listed housing. Reno comes in second with a $408,998 average; Sparks at $345,995; Minden at $334,400; Carson City at $325,500 and still the most affordable housing in the region, Dayton at $289,900.

Carsonites don’t scrimp when it comes to retail, spending $16,744 per capita versus $14,343 in Washoe and $10,993 in Douglas.

Even though our traffic belies it, Carson City has the largest population per square mile at 382.1 persons within in the 144.6 acres. In contrast Douglas, with 709.72 square miles, has 66.2 persons per square mile and Washoe has 66.9 persons in a county of 6,302.37 square miles making that county far more rural than either Douglas or Carson.

Finally, for those counting, there is one birth every 8 seconds and one death every 10 seconds. The current U.S. population sits at just over 327 million.