By MARK WAITE
PVT
It’s official — the 2010 census figures were released for Nevada on Thursday.
The Pahrump population rose by 11,810 in the last 10 years from 24,631 in the 2000 census to 36,441 by the 2010 census, a 48 percent increase.
The Nye County population rose from 32,485 in the 2000 census to 43,946 by the 2010 census, a gain of 11,461 residents, or 35.3 percent.
Pahrump formed 83 percent of the county population in the 2010 census, up from 75.8 percent in 2000.
In the 1990 census, Pahrump was a small town of only 7,424 residents, which was only 41.8 percent of the county population of 17,781. The county’s population jumped 82 percent from 1990 to 2000, while the Pahrump population soared by three and a half times.
The official 2010 Census Bureau total was lower than estimates by the Nye County Planning Department. The county pegged the county population at 46,250 in the second quarter of 2010, the same period as the official census day on April 1, 2010. That’s a difference of 2,304 people.
The Pahrump census figures ended up coming in 1,875 less than county planning estimates. The county uses residential customer data from various electrical utilities multiplied by the average number of persons per household to come up with quarterly population estimates. Group quarters are estimated using a trending factor that is checked annually using phone interviews.
Census takers in 2000 remarked they were surprised at the number of single families with no children in Pahrump, which skewed the numbers downward from county estimates.
“Basically that’s about what I expected it to be,” Nye County Commissioner Butch Borasky said of the figures. The population would have been higher a couple of years ago, but construction workers left town when the housing industry plunged due to the economy, he said.
The U.S. Census Bureau listed the Beatty population in the 2010 census as 1,010, a drop from 1,154 in 2000, while the Tonopah population dropped from 2,627 to 2,478.
The U.S. Census Bureau also released race and ethnic information at the county level. Nye County remained overwhelmingly comprised of non-Hispanic whites, almost 86 percent.
However, the Hispanic population of Nye County grew from 2,713 to 5,967, more than doubling, increasing their share of the county population from 8.4 percent in 2000 to 13.6 percent in 2010.
The black or African-American population rose from 383 to 874 from 2000 to 2010, an increase from 1.2 percent of the population to almost 2 percent.
There were 703 people classified as American Indian or Alaska native in the 2010 census, up from 636 in 2000. There were 572 Asians, an increase from 253 in 2000. The number of native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders doubled from 105 to 211, according to the Census Bureau. Another 1,558 were classified as belonging to two or more races in 2010, an increase from 1,022 in 2000, an option that was offered for the first time by the Census Bureau in the 2000 census.
Nye County ranked as the sixth most populous county in Nevada behind Douglas County 46,997 , Elko County 48,818 , Lyon County 51,980 , Washoe County 421,207 and Clark County 1.95 million . The 35 percent increase in the Nye County population was less than Lyon County, which had a 50 percent increase and Clark County, with an almost 42 percent rise.
The city of Las Vegas saw its population rise 22 percent from 478,434 to 583,756 from the 2000 to the 2010 census. Henderson had a 47 percent increase, from 175,381 to 257,729. Reno’s population rose 24.8 percent from 180,480 to 225,221. North Las Vegas saw an 87.9 percent jump in population from 115,488 to 216,961. The biggest percentage increase among the incorporated cities was in Fernley, where the population leaped 126.7 percent from 8,543 to 19,368.
The Census data is used to redraw federal congressional districts, state legislative districts and county commission boundaries. Nye County Commission boundaries will have to be drawn as closely as possible to one-fifth of the population, meaning Pahrump would have more than enough representation, at 83 percent, for four commission seats.
Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino said any county commission redistricting probably won’t take place until the end of 2011 or early 2012.
“It’s not mandatory we redistrict unless it’s necessary,” Merlino said, adding it will be up to county commissioners to decide. “Ten years ago we had such a huge, huge increase in population we had to redistrict.”
“Because our northern districts include Pahrump we really may not have any changes,” she said.
On the federal level, the state of Nevada is expected to get a fourth congressional district, as the Silver State population increased from 1.99 million to 2.7 million.
The figures are also used for distributing funds for government programs like Medicaid, the Census Bureau said. The data helps officials plan schools, roads and public facilities. Real estate agents and potential residents can use the figures to find information about a community, as well.
I wonder if we could get the percentage on Welfare/Hud?
This may give you a clue…
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/More_Nevadans_Got_Food_Stamps_Last_Year_115499324.html
Nevada’s population is rising, but it seems we’re only importing the impoverished into our midst. This seems to support the trend of declining tax revenues along with higher expenditures for government services.
You mean we are getting trash! So true, it’s this grade of people that is breaking our financial system. Take take take from the pot and never put anything back in.
Speak for yourself. Many of us ‘newcomers’ are retired and not living on welfare. We worked for many years. You bigots don’t know nearly as much as you think you do.
I agree with JD. I am new; retired; bought a home and am not on welfare. If more people in Pahrump were less filled with hatred this would be a better place to live.
We have declining tax revenues because our property is worth 1/4 of what it used to be worth. That is not the peoples’ fault, that is the economy’s fault.
Comment removed.
This is not your personal advertising platform for your business.
PVT
What is the census for the Town of Amargosa Valley? Why is Amargosa Valley not included in the article?
Trash is a terrible word to use for people of any race..you should be ashamed of yourself.
I can give you my opinion why Beatty lost 144 people.
We do not have a viable grocery store here..we have to travel to Pahrump to do our shopping. I dont like giving another city my money for food but i have no choice.
I do appreciate the two small food places that we do have in Beatty and our hardware stores and food places .
I am a low income retired person and very blessed to be able to live in a wonderful apartment at the Heritage Park Apartments we i can afford.
lets all try to be kind to every one we meet. We are all Americans.
for the record…i came here from ohio in 2001…trash? i don’t think so…but thinking that newcomers are trash is a sinister, bigoted belief…we are all in this together…we work together or fail separately…
I’m semi retired, soon to be retired. I moved to Nevada without any expectation that the state would be an industrial base with plenty of high skilled and professional citizens. For the most part, the work force seemed to be heavily inclined towards low skilled construction and service orientated jobs. When the economy came apart at the seams, you should expect a higher percentage of this work force to be disproportionately affected..and in need of social services. I agree with the last poster, we are all in this together.
Why is Amargosa Valley not included in this article. Don’t we count at all?
The PVT printed the information broken down as was available.
PVT
You don’t count because all the money you get comes from pahrump.
I think that Amargosa has more cows than people with the dairies…..That should count for something…..
Hi, After reading everyone’s comments I felt compelled to put in my two cents. I have worked for the State of NV for the past 10 years and seen first hand who is moving here and why. I will soon be a resident of Pahrump; I am not poor, white trash. I am looking for a good value for my money and retirement. We are quick to judge. These are hard times. We can ALL make Pahrump a better place to live. Respect and common courtesy. It’s up to us. We’re ALL in this together; lets not screw each other. Our government and state officials have abandond us. We need arms…of embrace not destruction. I will soon to be your neighbor.
Pay It Forward. CJ
I have to say that I am sad to here everyone call those on government assistance trash, this is not the case. You cannot judge a whole group of people and say that just because they are on foodstamps and have medicaid that they are trash and that they are bringing this town down. Every one is going through hard times right now, how would you feel if you were one of those who was in need of assistance? Yeah there may be some people out their taking advantage of the system but that does not mean everyone is. I am on foodstamps and receive medicaid for my children, does that make me less of a person absolutely not. I paid taxes and so did my husband and just because we are having some hard times does not mean we are trash. Everyone should be ashamed of themselves talking about their own community in such a way.
Are there lazy freeloaders living in Pahrump? The answer is yes, just like everywhere else in the world where people live. However it does seem that we have more than our fair share of over judgmental (I’m perfect just ask me) people living here. Many of these people have had the benefit of living there “working life” during the years that this country had an expanding economy, many high paying jobs, Company retirement programs and group insurance plans. Today, that is no longer the case. As such many of our NEIGHBORS are suffering through hard times and need our compassion, not our scorn. In other words follow the old adage
“If you don’t have anything good to say…..don’t say anything.”