Clark County, Nevada facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clark County
U.S. County
From top, left to right: Caesars Palace panorama, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Clark County Government Center, Fremont Street Experience, The Venetian, Elephant Rock at Valley of Fire State Park
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Motto(s):  "Together for Better"
Location in the state of Nevada
Nevada in the United States
Country	United States
State	Nevada
Named for	William A. Clark
County seat	Las Vegas
Largest city (population)	Las Vegas
Largest city (area)	Boulder City
Government
• Type	Council–Manager
Area
• Total	8,061 sq mi (20,880 km2)
• Land	7,891 sq mi (20,440 km2)
• Water	170 sq mi (400 km2)
Lowest elevation	492 ft (150 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,265,461
• Estimate  (2023)	2,336,573
• Density	281.040/sq mi (108.510/km2)
GDP
• Total	$160.727 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
FIPS code	003-32003

Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada, which also comprises the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV metropolitan statistical area. The land area of Clark County is 8,061 square miles (20,880 km²), or roughly the size of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,265,461. Most of the county population resides in the Las Vegas Census County Divisions, which has 2,196,623 people as of the 2020 Census. It is by far the most populous county in Nevada, and the 11th-most populous county in the United States. It covers 7% of the state's land area but holds 73% of the state's population, making Nevada the most centralized state in the United States.

History

Las Vegas, the state's most populous city, has been the county seat since its establishment. The county was formed by the Nevada Legislature by splitting off a portion of Lincoln County on February 5, 1909, and was organized on July 1, 1909. The Las Vegas Valley, a 600 sq mi (1,600 km²) basin, includes Las Vegas and other major cities and communities such as North Las Vegas, Henderson, and the unincorporated community of Paradise.

Native Americans lived in the Las Vegas Valley beginning over 10,000 years ago. Paiutes moved into the area as early as AD 700. Previously part of the Mexican Territory of Alta California, the Clark County lands were subsequently traversed by American beaver trappers. Word of their journeys inspired the New Mexican merchant Antonio Armijo in 1829 to establish the first route for mule trains and herds of livestock from Nuevo Mexico to Alta California through the area, along the Virgin and Colorado Rivers. Called the Armijo Route of the Old Spanish Trail, the route was later modified into the Main Route by the passing merchants, trappers, drovers, Ute raiders and settlers over the years by moving to a more direct route. In Clark County it was northward away from the Colorado to a series of creeks, waterholes and springs like those at Las Vegas, to which John C. Frémont added Frémont's Cutoff on his return from California to Utah in 1844.

What is now Clark County was acquired by the United States during the Mexican–American War, becoming part of the northwestern corner of New Mexico Territory. In 1847, Jefferson Hunt and other Mormon Battalion members returning to Salt Lake City from Los Angeles pioneered a wagon route through the County that became the Mormon Road. In 1849, this road became known as the "Southern Route", the winter route of the California Trail from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles during the California Gold Rush. By the mid-1850s, the route now known as the Salt Lake Road in California, and the California Road in Utah Territory, was a wagon trade route between the two. In the mid-1850s, Mormons established a Mormon Fort at Las Vegas. In the 1860s, Mormon colonies were established along the Virgin and Muddy Rivers.

All of the county was part of Mohave County, Arizona Territory, when that Territory was formed in 1863, before Nevada became a state. In 1865, it became part of Pah-Ute County, Arizona Territory. The part of Pah-Ute County north and west of the Colorado River was assigned to the new State of Nevada in 1866; however, Arizona territory fought the division until 1871. Pah-Ute County became part of Lincoln County and the westernmost part became the southernmost part of Nye County.

Clark County was named for William A. Clark, a Montana copper magnate and Democratic U.S. Senator. Clark was largely responsible for construction of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad through the area, contributing to the region's early development. Clark County is a major tourist destination with 150,000 hotel rooms. The Las Vegas Strip, home to many famous hotel-casinos, is not within the City of Las Vegas limits, but in unincorporated Paradise. It is, however, in the Las Vegas Valley.

Clark County is geographically coextensive with the Las Vegas MSA, a metropolitan statistical area designated by the Office of Management and Budget and used by the United States Census Bureau and other agencies for statistical purposes. Over time and influenced by climate change, droughts in Southern Nevada have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Clark County's and Las Vegas's water security.

Geography

Kyle Canyon in the Mount Charleston Wilderness

The Colorado River forms the county's southeastern boundary, with Hoover Dam forming Lake Mead along much of its length. The lowest point in the state of Nevada is on the Colorado River just south of Laughlin in Clark County, where it flows out of Nevada into California and Arizona. Greater Las Vegas is a tectonic valley, surrounded by four mountain ranges, with nearby Mount Charleston being the highest elevation at 11,918 ft (3,633 m), located to the northwest. Other than the forests on Mount Charleston, the geography in Clark County is a desert. Creosote bushes are the main native vegetation, and the mountains are mostly rocky with little vegetation. The terrain slopes to the south and east. The county has an area of 20,879 km² (8,061 sq mi), of which 20,438 km² (7,891 sq mi) is land and 441 km² (170 sq mi) (2.1%) is water.

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Calico basin in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Twenty official wilderness areas in Clark County are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Many of these are in, or partially in, one of the preceding protected areas, as shown below. Many are separate entities that are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM):

Environmental factors

Clark County has diverse desert flora and fauna, including higher-elevation mountain areas, the desert floor, and the Colorado River/Lake Mead ecosystems. Variations in diurnal temperature as well as seasonal swings in temperature create demanding adaptation elements on the species of this county. Population expansion, especially since 1970, has placed additional pressure on species in the area.

Correspondingly, air quality levels prior to the 1960s were in a favorable range, but the proliferation of automobiles with the human population expansion created circumstances where some federal air quality standards were violated starting in the 1980s.

To plan for the wave of development forecast by 1980, Clark County embarked on a regional environmental impact assessment funded by a federal Section 208 program, with Sedway Cooke conducting the planning work and Earth Metrics performing environmental analysis. This endeavor projected population growth, land use changes and environmental impacts.

To prevent the loss of federal funds due to unacceptable dust levels in the Las Vegas valley, in 2003 the Nevada Air Quality Management division (under direction of Clark County officials) created the "Don't Be a Dusthole" campaign. The campaign successfully raised awareness of dust pollution in the Las Vegas Valley, quantifiably reducing pollutants and preserving ongoing federal funding.

The Apex Landfill, at 2,200 acres (890 ha), is the nation's largest landfill. Republic Services owns and operates the landfill.

Earthquake hazards

Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the U.S. (after Alaska and California); the United States Geological Survey has estimated that over the next 50 years, Clark County has a 10–20% chance of a (moment magnitude) M6.0 or greater earthquake occurring within 50 km (31 mi) of Las Vegas.

Demographics

2015 income distribution by household in Las Vegas.

Population living below federal poverty line by census tracts covering Clark County.

Map of racial distribution in Las Vegas, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, or Other (yellow)

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

Ethnic origins in Clark County

2022 American Community Survey

In 2022, there were 857,362 households and 2,322,985 people living in Clark County. By race and ethnicity, the population was 37.6% non-Hispanic white, 32.6% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 11.7% black, 10.7% Asian, 5.9% multiracial, 0.7% Pacific Islander, 0.3% Native American, and 0.6% some other race.

The largest ancestries in the county were Mexican (23.2%), German (7.4%), Filipino (6.8%), English (6.8%), Irish (6.2%), and Italian (4.5%).

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,951,269 people, 715,365 households, and 467,916 families in the county. The population density was 247.3 inhabitants per square mile (95.5/km²). There were 840,343 housing units at an average density of 106.5 per square mile (41.1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 60.9% White, 13.5% Black or African American, 8.7% Asian, 0.7% Pacific islander, 0.7% American Indian, 10.5% from other races, and 5.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 29.1% of the population. In terms of European/white ancestries, 11.7% were German, 9.1% were Irish, 7.6% were English, 6.3% were Italian, and 2.7% were American.

Of the 715,365 households, 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.6% were non-families, and 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.26. The median age was 35.5 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $56,258 and the median income for a family was $63,888. Males had a median income of $43,693 versus $35,324 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,422. About 8.7% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.9% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The Las Vegas Strip looking south

The entrance to the affluent MacDonald Highlands in Henderson

Enterprise, Nevada as seen from neighboring Southern Highlands

The county is home to many gaming-related companies including Golden Entertainment, American Casino & Entertainment Properties, Bally Technologies, Cannery Casino Resorts, The Majestic Star Casino, LLC, Ameristar Casinos, Archon Corporation, Boyd Gaming, Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, DBT Online Inc., Two Plus Two Publishing, Gambler's Book Shop / GBC Press, Station Casinos, Millennium Management Group, Navegante Group, Pinnacle Entertainment and Tropicana Entertainment.

Largest employers

Regional Justice Center

According to data collected by the Research and Analysis Bureau of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, Clark County's largest employers, both public and private employers, as reported in the fourth quarter of 2012:

30,000 to 39,999 employees

• Clark County School District

5,000 to 10,000 employees

2,500 to 4,999

Gaming areas

The State of Nevada divides the state into several gaming districts. Accordingly, the Clark County is divided into the following reporting districts:

• Boulder Strip: This region includes 33 casinos on Boulder Highway. Casinos within the Henderson city limits are included as well, such as Green Valley Ranch, Sunset Station, The Pass, and Jokers Wild.
• Downtown: There are 19 casinos in this reporting area.
• LV Strip: This region is composed of all the casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard, from The Stratosphere at the north end to Mandalay Bay on the south end. Also included are resorts near this area, such as The Rio, South Point, and the Virgin; and Harry Reid International Airport (formerly McCarran Airport).
• North Las Vegas: This region has 11 casinos and includes the Cannery, Jerry's Nugget, and the Santa Fe Station.
• Laughlin: The casinos in Laughlin.
• Mesquite: The casinos in Mesquite.
• Balance of County: As of 2008, there are 66 casinos in this category that includes casinos at Lake Las Vegas, Jean, Primm, the Railroad Pass and Hacienda casinos, along with other casinos that do not fit any other category such as Arizona Charlie's Decatur, Gold Coast, The Orleans, The Palms, Suncoast, Rampart, and Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino

Parks and recreation

Education

The Clark County School District serves all of Clark County, with 228 elementary schools, 59 middle schools, and 54 high schools being the fifth largest in the country. Student enrollment in 2014 was 324,093.

Colleges serving the area are University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), College of Southern Nevada, Nevada State University, Roseman University of Health Sciences, and Touro University Nevada.

Transportation

Public transit

Public transit service throughout Clark County is provided by RTC Transit, which is a subsidiary of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. RTC Transit operates The Deuce Bus rapid transit service between Downtown Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Strip.

Major highways

Rail

• Las Vegas Monorail

Clark County previously had Amtrak service on the Desert Wind, which served Las Vegas station until it stopped service in 1997. Las Vegas and Laughlin are still served by Amtrak Thruway service which connects to the Southwest Chief.

Resort trams

• Aria Express
• Mandalay Bay Tram
• The Mirage-Treasure Island Tram

Communities

Bracketed number refers to location on map, right

Cities

• Boulder City (21)
• Henderson (19)
• Las Vegas (10) (county seat)
• Mesquite (4)
• North Las Vegas (9)

Census-designated places

Air Force bases

• Creech Air Force Base
• Nellis Air Force Base

Unincorporated communities

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Clark (Nevada) para niños