State still fastest growing

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 | 10:48 a.m.

Clark County's population grew by nearly 100,000 people, from 2003 to 2004, for a growth rate of almost 6 percent, according to estimates released today by the state demographer's office at UNR.

Nevada, with a growth rate of 5 percent, was the fastest-growing state in the nation for the 18th year in a row, State Demographer Jeff Hardcastle said in an press release.

That far outpaced the growth rate of the entire nation, which was just 1 percent in that period, according to the demographer's office.

Clark County's population shot up from 1,620,748 in July 2003 to 1,715,337 in July 2004, according to the estimates. Clark County now makes up 71 percent of the state's population, according to the estimates.

That was a 5.8 percent increase and an acceleration of Clark County's growth. From 2002 to 2003, the county grew 4.6 percent.

The state of Nevada's population went from 2,296,566 in 2003 to 2,410,768 in 2004 for a growth rate of 5 percent.

Many of Nevada's rural counties appeared to turn around the population declines they were experiencing. Only two counties, Mineral and Pershing, lost population in 2003-04, whereas six counties declined the previous year.

The biggest increase in the state was seen by Lyon County, whose population climbed 8.2 percent, from 41,244 to 44,646.

The demographer's annual estimates are important to Nevada's counties, cities and towns because they are used to determine how revenue is distributed throughout the state.