Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Census Bureau: Nevada’s population tops 3 million

Nevada’s population increased to more than 3 million last year, according to newly released census data.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the state’s population increased by almost 62,000 people between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018, bringing Nevada’s population up to 3,034,400.

Clark County saw the biggest increase, with more than 48,300 additional residents. Washoe County came in second with an increase of about 8,400 people.

A few counties — Esmeralda, Lander and White Pine — decreased in population.

The increase was larger than in the last four years, but the numbers have been consistently trending upward.

Nevada and Idaho were deemed the fastest-growing states by the Census Bureau last year. Most of the biggest increases were across the South and West — Arizona and Texas, especially — which the Bureau attributed to domestic and international migration.

The Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix areas saw influxes of 131,797 and 96,268 people, respectively. That is a population increase of about 1.8 percent for Dallas-Fort Worth and 2 percent for Phoenix. The Las Vegas area’s increase was 2.04 percent.

“One interesting trend we are seeing this year is that metro areas not among the most populous are ranked in the top 10 for population growth,” Sandra Johnson, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, said in a news release.

“Though no new metro areas moved into the top 10 largest areas, Phoenix, Seattle, Austin, and Orlando all experienced numeric increases in population since 2010, rivaling growth in areas with much larger populations,” Johnson said. “This trend is consistent with the overall growth we are seeing in the South and the West.”