Monday, Aug. 17, 2015 | 2 a.m.
Las Vegas is a 24/7/365 destination. Our city hosts more than 40 million visitors each year, is the economic lifeblood of Nevada and is home to the majority of the state’s 2.8 million residents. Here, we present a look at our city and state, their history, infrastructure, government and entertainment, by the numbers.
522,399
Airplane take-offs and landings at McCarran International Airport in 2014
150,544
Hotel rooms in the valley in 2014
288
Years it would take a person to spend one night in every hotel room on the Strip
$530
Average gambling budget per Las Vegas visitor
7,982,550
Pillows fluffed at MGM Grand in 2014
2,500
Exotic dancers working in the valley on an average day
30,000
People who work as prostitutes in Las Vegas, where prostitution is illegal
1,000
Women who work in Nevada’s legal brothel industry
12,243
White Fruit of the Loom tank tops the 20-member cast of “Chippendales” tears through each year
2,912
Condoms performers in “X Burlesque” give audience members each year during the “Mile High” scene
110 gallons
Amount of Crown Royal that Carrot Top gives audience members each year. The comedian loves to share shots with fans during his show.
50 tons
Weight of the bronze lion outside MGM Grand. It is said to be the largest bronze sculpture in the Western Hemisphere.
267,436
Toilet paper rolls used by the Blue Man Group at Monte Carlo in 2014. The show’s grand finale includes cascades of toilet tissue.
11,336
Shows performed by the Bellagio fountains in 2014
666
Sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel
1.5 million
Gallons of water in the “O” pool. The water is kept at 88 degrees, and the pool can be transformed into a dry stage in seconds.
3.2 million
Visitors to the Adventuredome at Circus Circus in 2014
19,900
Calories in the Octuple-Bypass Burger at the Heart Attack Grill downtown. Diners who weigh more than 350 pounds eat for free.
$5,000
Cost of the most expensive hamburger in Las Vegas, the Fleurburger 5000 at Fleur in Mandalay Bay. It is made with wagyu beef, foie gras and truffles, and served with a bottle of 1995 Château Petrus 5000. Twenty six were sold last year.
52,640
Massages and facials given at Spa Bellagio in 2014
96,719
Pounds of crab legs served at the Buffet at Aria in 2014
$737,000
Cost of a package at Drai’s nightclub that includes the use of a private 737 jet that seats 50, a 210-second fireworks show and 100 bottles of Dom Perignon Champagne
8
Residents for every slot machine in Las Vegas
10,000 pounds
Combined weight of all the jewelry worn in “Jubilee” since the show began
136
Starbucks locations in Las Vegas. The city is the 10th most Starbucks-saturated city in the world. Seoul, South Korea, is No. 1, followed by New York City, then Shanghai.
1.81
Inches of rain recorded in the valley in 2014
10.72
Inches of rain recorded in Las Vegas in 1941, the wettest year on record. By comparison, annual average precipitation in Atlanta is 48.6 inches.
0.56
Inches of total rainfall in 1953, Las Vegas’ driest year on record
110,571
Area, in square miles, of Nevada. The state is the seventh largest in the United States.
58,675,104
Gallons of gasoline sold in Clark County in February
$8.25 per hour
Minimum wage in Las Vegas
50 percent
Greater risk among Las Vegans of committing suicide, compared with residents nationally
200
Approximate gallons of water used per person per day in the valley
354,110
Practicing Catholics in Clark County
124,291
Mormons in Clark County
1,700
Orthodox Jews in Clark County
1,084
Muslims in Clark County
621
Number of year-round rivers or streams in Nevada. All but one — the Colorado River — end in inland basins or dry lake beds known as playas. Only about 10 percent of the state’s rivers and streams are year-round.
5,500 feet above sea level
Nevada’s average elevation
479 feet above sea level
Lowest point in Nevada, along the Colorado River, just south of Laughlin
200
Miles of drainage tunnels beneath Las Vegas. If laid end to end starting at the Spaghetti Bowl, the tunnels would stretch to about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
48th
Nevada’s ranking for government workers. Nevada employs the third fewest public workers per capita of any state in the country, just 195 per 10,000 residents.
75 percent
Share of public workers in Nevada who are teachers
28
Number of active gold mines in Nevada
19.1 percent
Share of Nevadans who are foreign-born. The national average is 12.9 percent.
4th
Nevada’s global ranking as a gold producer, after China, Australia and South Africa. Nevada supplies three quarters of all the gold mined in the United States.
13,140 feet
Height of Nevada’s tallest mountain, Boundary Peak, in the White Mountains, just a few miles from the California border. In fact, the peak was part of California before an 1892 geological survey moved it within state lines.
1955
Year Area 51 was established by the Central Intelligence Agency to develop and test military projects.
0
Population of Area 51 in September 1960 when the site was chosen as a test hub for the Archangel-12 stealth plane. Area 51 was selected because of its remote location, easy access and good weather — even though a longer, sturdier runway and a fuel tank farm had to be built.
1,800
Population of Area 51 four years later. By the time the first A-12 arrived in 1961, three shuttle flights a day ferried CIA staff from Burbank to Las Vegas.
117 degrees
Hottest temperature recorded in Las Vegas, recorded on three separate dates in July 1942, July 2005 and June 2013.
36,718
Homeless people in Southern Nevada in 2014, roughly 2 percent of the region’s total population
50 feet
Length of the Shonisaurus popularis ichthyosaurs — extinct marine reptiles — that swam in the ocean that covered central Nevada 225 million years ago. Ichthyosaur fossils can be seen today at Berlin-Icthyosaur State Park in Austin, Nevada, which contains the largest known Shonisaurus popularis ichthyosaur fossil in the world.
7
Times Nevada has failed to vote for the winner of the presidential election
2.1
Average number of burglaries per hour in the Las Vegas Valley
6,942,873
Visitors to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 2014. Lake Mead is the sixth-most visited place in the national park system.
45 million pounds
Weight of the reinforced steel the federal government bought to build the Hoover Dam
$500,000
Average monthly payroll during the dam’s construction
26 million acre feet
Capacity of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. On average, the lake holds enough water to flood the entire state of New York 1-foot deep.
4.5 million cubic yards
Amount of concrete used to build the Hoover Dam, enough to build a two-lane road from Seattle to Miami or a 4-foot-wide sidewalk around the Earth at the equator
660 feet
Thickness of the Hoover Dam at its base. It is as thick as two football fields measured end to end.
726 feet
Height of the Hoover Dam. That’s 171 feet taller than the Washington Monument and twice as tall as the Luxor.
4.2 billion kilowatt-hours
Average annual net generation for the Hoover Powerplant from 1947 through 2008
21,000
Number of men who built Hoover Dam
96
Number of workers who died building Hoover Dam. It’s a myth that their bodies are buried in the dam.
1,149 feet
Height of the Stratosphere, Clark County’s tallest building
1,455
Stairs in the Stratosphere
Sources: Vegas.com, U.S. Census Bureau, UNLV, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Institute of International Education, Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Forest Service, UNLV Center for Gaming Research, Nevada Department of Wildlife, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Nevada150.org, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, City of Las Vegas, U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, GLS Research, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Las Vegas Valley Water District, VCU Center on Society and Health, National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigations
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