Is it the pre-recession days of endless moving vans bring families to Nevada? No it isn’t. But, the state’s population is growing again a sign that “we are coming out of the recession,” according to State Demographer Jeff Hardcastle.
Hardcastle said Nevada gained an estimated 42,334 persons from July 2013 to July 2014, an estimated increase of 1.5 percent.
“Just as other economic indicators are showing, we are coming out of the recession,” said Hardcastle. “Natural population increase is continuing to play a role in our growth at this time and we may be seeing some increase in immigration. Growth was much less uniform than last year and we are estimating some loss of population in the smaller counties.”
To calculate the estimates, Hardcastle looks at statistics pertaining to number of households, persons per household, occupancy rates, number of people in group quarters, employment and labor force data and school enrollment figures.
Carson City, Churchill and Lyon Counties lost population. Washoe County grew by 1 percent. Rural counties in northeast and central Nevada also are a mixed story with Elko being flat for the year and growth happening in Esmeralda, Lander, and Pershing Counties.
“Gold prices have been falling, and that showed up in the employment numbers in the first part of last year which impacts the estimates,” Hardcastle said.
Clark County gained an estimated 37,728 people, an increase of 1.9 percent.
“There was solid job growth in Southern Nevada it looks like more people were able to go back to work,” Hardcastle said. “There and in other parts of the state we are seeing mixed signals with school enrollment data, labor force and population changing at different rates.”
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Jeff Hardcastle, Nevada demographer