Census study confirms: Lots of single men are living in Paradise

Mary Manning and Timothy Pratt

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

There's good news for single women in one area of Las Vegas, according to a Census Bureau report released Monday.

While the nationwide ratio of unmarried men to unmarried women nationwide is 86 men per 100 women, in Paradise Township the ratio is 118 men to 100 women.

That indicates there are more widowed, divorced and never-married men than women living in that unincorporated area of Clark County, according to the report.

As if to illustrate the point, at Paddy's Pub and Eatery on Pecos Road near Flamingo Road in Paradise Township Monday night, mostly men played video poker, watched "Monday Night Football" and sipped beers.

"We don't have a whole lot of women here," Paddy's bartender John Casciano said.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Tempe, Ariz.; Sunnyvale, Calif.; and Santa Ana, Calif.; also had abnormally high numbers in that category.

Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business & Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who lives in Paradise Township, said the available housing may partly explain the phenomenon.

"There's a lot of multi-unit apartments and a lot of men might be moving here to work in the construction industry," he said.

Another factor could be the surge in Hispanics moving to Southern Nevada in general, including his neighborhood, Schwer said.

Between the 1990 and 2000 census, the Hispanic population in Clark County grew from 12 percent of the population to 22 percent, Schwer said.

"Many of these are young males striking out on their own to search for their fortunes," he said.

The economist also said Western states relying on mining or other male-dominated jobs such as construction work or technology tend to attract more men.

The census report also bears this out, showing a general pattern of higher ratios for men than women in the West than in other regions. Information collected in the report was based on responses from a sample of households that received the long form for the census.

Alaska has the highest ratio, with 114 unmarried men to 100 unmarried women. Alaska tends to attract more workers in forestry, fishing, hunting, mining and construction industries, the report said, creating the unusually high ratio of unmarried men to unmarried women.

UNLV political science professor Ted Jelen said that the employment climate in Las Vegas does not encourage women to come here for jobs.

"Las Vegas is one of the least friendly job markets for females," he said.

But, he added, "it's not hard for women to find a job here if they're wearing a short skirt."