The number of Hispanics in Nevada has more than doubled over the last 20 years, and Hispanics and Asians are expected to make up half of Las Vegas’ population within the next few years.
Nevada may now offer a glimpse into the future when it comes to the makeup of the overall population.
The Census Bureau has predicted the country as a whole will be majority non-white by the year 2043.
Robert Lang, the UNLV director of Brookings Mountain West, said Las Vegas' rapid expansion over the 20 years has been accommodating to the changes in demographics.
"It's always been a place for newcomers," he said.
However, he also said that while the growth has accommodated population changes, the speed of the expansion has left a gap.
"The unanticipated growth of Las Vegas, the shock of the scale of a region that no one thought could use, as a basis of economic development, tourism to establish a region of 1 million let alone 2 million has never really been until this decade managed as if it was to scale," he said. "It has always been managed as if it was getting to scale."
Nevada’s politics and policies are beginning to reflect this changing demographic. Governor Brian Sandoval’s tax increase to fund education, for example, includes money for Victory Schools and English as a Second Language studies.
But that is not all, Seth Rau, the policy director for Nevada Succeeds, told KNPR's State of Nevada two other laws are examples: the law that allows non-U.S. citizens to gain teaching licenses and a law that created a special bilingual seal for high school diplomas.
Despite the progress made in this session, Ebeth Palafox, research director, Center for Latino Prosperity, said there are still areas to improve.
She said a bill that was introduced this past legislative session would have improved counseling for high school juniors so they understand what opportunities they have after graduation and how to reach those opportunities.
Palafox said the bill goes to the heart of one of Nevada's biggest problems, "I think a lot of the policies in Nevada they work some places not every where.”
She said Nevada is really a state made up of three different states: Northern Nevada, Southern Nevada and Rural Nevada.
Lang agreed and said that by the perspective of Carson City, Reno is a big city. He also believes getting lawmakers to understand the challenges Las Vegas is facing with an ever growing and ever diversifying population is tough is difficult.
"One of the things you don't have in a lot of other states is you don't have a capital in a city that is 50,000 people... and it is 400 miles away and it has to have Las Vegas explained to it as if it was an abstraction," Lang said.
Isaac Barron, a city councilman for the City of North Las Vegas and a Rancho High School teacher, said many times the structure of institutions are decades behind which hurts minority kids.
"There are some structural challenges," he said. "Of course, these structural challenges I think hit Latino students a little bit harder."
He pointed to the school year still being based on the agricultural system where students are off in the summer, which would have been helpful when the country depended on kids working on their family farms during harvest.
For Lang, making changes to policy isn't about majority lawmakers finally recognizing a minority group when it becomes a big enough voting block.
"I think you also need engagement by those minority groups in leadership," he said. "I don't think it's just white leadership in the city looking at a voting block and saying 'here's an opportunity to make a direct appeal."
Lang believes Clark County isn't a glimpse into the country's future when it comes to diversity, "We are both the future and representative of the current politics in the nation."
Robert Lang, UNLV director, Brookings Mountain West; Seth Rau, policy director, Nevada Succeeds; Ebeth Palafox, research director, Center for Latino Prosperity; Isaac Barron, councilman, City of North Las Vegas