Sprawling suburban and commercial development in Las Vegas, Nevada is pushing up against the mountains in the western desert as the population increases
Nevada’s population is rapidly approaching 3 million.
The state demographer says in 2017, the state added 33,300 residents to its population. That, according to state Taxation Director Bill Anderson, brings the state’s estimated total population to 2,986,700.
He said that indicates the state’s economy is continuing to expand in the wake of the recession.
“Since our recovery started at the beginning of the decade, the state’s population has grown by about 262,000, very similar to the increase in jobs and employment,” he said.
The vast majority of that population is in Southern Nevada where an estimated 2,240,200 lived at the close of 2017. In northwest Nevada including Reno and Carson City, the total population is 614,400.
State Demographer Jeff Hardcastle, who produces the population estimates, said even when there was overall job loss during the recession, there were gains in some sectors including healthcare.
According to Hardcastle’s estimates, Carson City saw an increase of 256 residents over the past year to 55,438.
Douglas County had the smallest increase at just six new residents followed by Storey County with 41 more. Douglas had 48,300 folks and Storey 4,084.
The lion’s share of growth was in Washoe where 3,607 more people moved in during the year to take advantage of the jobs boom there. Washoe’s total population was listed at 451,923.
Of the small counties in northwest Nevada, Lyon saw the largest growth, 1,013 more people for a total of 54,657.