Poll shows demographic differences

The average Southern Nevadan is white, between the ages of 36 and 45, married but childless and earns between $35,000 and $49,999 annually.

Those and other statistics found in the 1998 Nevada Poll, which was released Tuesday, paint a broad picture of the area's population.

The poll is a product of the cooperative effort of UNLV's Cannon Center for Survey Research and the University of Nevada, Reno's Senator Alan Bible Center for Applied Research.

The 1998 demographics are of the 1,200 people who participated in the survey, "but it is a good representative sample of the current statistics of Southern Nevada," said Judy Calder, director of the poll as well as director of the Bible research center.

According to 1998 demographic figures, the largest number of Southern Nevadans -- 22 percent -- are 36 to 45 years old; 11 percent are 18 to 25; 18 percent 26 to 35; 17 percent 46 to 55; 16 percent 56 to 65; and 16 percent are 66 and older.

With minor exceptions, those were the same age characteristics reported in the 1996 poll.

Women outnumber men, 53 percent to 47 percent. That reflects a slight decline in the ratio between women and men from 1996 figures.

Whites make up 74 percent of the Southern Nevada population; Hispanics make up 11 percent; blacks make up 8 percent; and American Indians and Asians, 2 percent each.

In 1996, Hispanics represented 7 percent of the population and blacks 9 percent.

Slight changes to the demographics, said Calder, are to be expected in such polls, because interviewers don't talk to the same people each time.

"Theoretically, both polls could be perfectly representative of the population as a whole, but still have minor fluctuations," she said.

The poll showed 49 percent of the area residents are married, 22 percent are single, 19 percent are divorced or separated and 10 percent widowed.

This represents a decline of 7 percentage points in marriage -- 56 percent of the population was married in 1996.

Thirty-seven percent of the households are two-person, 23 percent one-person, 18 percent three-person, 13 percent four-person, 4 percent five-person, 2 percent six person and 1 percent seven-person.

The majority of area residents, 28 percent, have at least a high school education; 6 percent have less than high school and 24 percent have some college. Eighteen percent have a two-year college degree, 15 percent have a four-year degree and 10 percent have postgraduate degrees.

There was little deviation between the 1996 and 1998 education statistics.

Twenty percent of area households have an income between $35,000 and $49,999; 8 percent earn under $15,000; 14 percent earn $15,000 to $24,999; 16 percent earn $25,000 to $34,999; 17 percent earn $50,000 to $74,999; 13 percent earn over $75,000; and 3 percent said they don't know how much they earn.

Politically, 41 percent say they are affiliated with the Democratic Party while 27 percent claim allegiance to the Republican Party; 1 percent are Libertarian; 6 percent say they are independent and 20 percent claim no party affiliation.

Economically, 36 percent of residents claim to be conservative, 35 percent moderate, 23 percent liberal.

Socially, 34 percent claim to be conservative, 37 percent moderate and 23 percent liberal.

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