County’s population growth rate drops in rankings

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Thursday, April 17, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.

New census figures show Clark County has slipped in the national rankings of population growth.

The slide from 21st fastest growing county in 1999 to 58th last year may come as a surprise for some observers accustomed to seeing Southern Nevada near the top of most lists of population growth.

The report was based on estimates of growth from July 2001 to July 2002 that showed that the county grew 4.3 percent. The previous ranking was based on growth from 1990 to 1999 of 64 percent, an average of 6.4 percent a year.

The numbers are linked to local and national economic trends, Cherie Garrity, planner for the county's Comprehensive Planning Department, said.

"Rates of growth are fueled by the construction of resorts, and we haven't had one in at least two years," the planner said.

"Also, I do think there's some slowing of growth due to the economic situation of the country as a whole, where people might be less likely to move to another place," she said.

Still, the county's rate of growth "is significantly larger than that of the United States as a whole, which is traditionally at less than 1 percent," Keith Schwer, director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said.

"We got so large that it was impossible to continue the rate of growth, statistically speaking," Schwer said.

State Demographer Jeff Hardcastle offered another take on the county's falling ranking in growth.

"Though it looks like the county may no longer be sprinting ahead, but it's still bench pressing heavy weight, if you can excuse the mixed metaphor," Hardcastle said.

The county's drop in growth rate has been accompanied by a step up another list -- overall population, he said.

The report shows the county ranked 19th nationwide in overall population, at an estimated 1.52 million. The county ranked 25th largest in 2000.

The fall on one list and the rise on another both point to the same thing, Hardcastle said: As the county's population gets bigger and bigger, its rate of growth must slow down, even if the numbers of people moving into Clark County remain large.

The demographer said that about 60,000 new people arrive in the county each year -- "or about four Boulder Cities."

"And all this growth has to be accommodated," he added. Among the 100 fastest-growing counties in the nation of 10,000 people or more, Clark County is second in the number of people added to its population, he said. "Any way you look at it, we're still going to have to deal with all the issues of a rapidly growing community," Schwer said.