State population tops 2 million

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2000 | 10:32 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's population topped more than 2 million as of last July with 69 percent of the people living in Clark County, state Demographer Jeff Hardcastle reported Wednesday.

He said the growth rate however has fallen from 6 percent in the previous fiscal year to 5 percent last fiscal year. "One thing to remember is that as an area's population grows, its growth rate will slow down," said Hardcastle, who is based at the Nevada Small Business Development Center at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Five counties in rural Nevada lost population, according to Hardcastle.

He said he's looking forward to U.S. Census figures, due by the end of the year, to "see how well our estimate process has been working."

Las Vegas remained Nevada's largest city at 483,448, with a growth rate of 4 percent from the previous 12-month period. Henderson was the fastest growing city and the second largest in population with a 12.2 percent rate to 198,691. Reno was third at 182,818, or a 3.3 percent increase.

Hardcastle said Clark County's growth rate slowed to 6.1 percent, compared to 7 percent in the fiscal year. Its population reached 1,425,723. Washoe County's numbers grew to 333,566, or a 3.1 percent hike.

Lyon County posted an 8.4 percent growth rate to 37,014, the highest increase of any county. It has benefited, Hardcastle said, from a diversifying economy that includes the location of a distribution plant of Amazon.Com.