FHA Loans in Nevada
About This State and its People, Places, and Industries
Nevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there. "Sagebrush State" and "Battle Born State" are its alternative nicknames. In 1864, Nevada became the 36th state to enter the union, and the phrase "Battle Born" on the state flag reflects the state's entry on the Union side during the American Civil War. Its first nonnative settlement was called Mormon Station.Nevada is the seventh-largest state in area, and geographically covers the Mojave Desert in the south to the Great Basin in the north. It is the most arid state in the Union. Approximately 86% of the state's land is owned by the U.S federal government under various jurisdictions both civilian and military. As of 2008, there were about 2.6 million residents, with over 85% of the population residing in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno. The state is well known for its easy marriage and divorce proceedings, entertainment, legalized gambling and, in eight out of its 16 counties, legalized active brothels.
According to the Census Bureau's 2007 estimate, Nevada has an estimated population of 2,565,382 which is an increase of 92,909, or 3.5%, from the prior year and an increase of 516,550, or 20.8%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 81,661 people (that is 170,451 births minus 88,790 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 337,043 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 66,098 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 270,945 people. According to the 2006 census estimate, Nevada is the eighth fastest growing state in the nation.
The center of population of Nevada is located in southern Nye County. In this county, the unincorporated town of Pahrump, located 60 miles (97 km) west of Las Vegas on the California state line, has grown 26 times in size from 1980 to 2000. In the year 2006, the town may have over 50,000 permanent residents. Las Vegas was America's fastest-growing city and metropolitan area from 1960 to 2000, but has grown from a gulch of 100 people in 1900 to 10,000 by 1950 to 100,000 by 1970 to have 2.5 million in the metro area today.
According to the census estimates racial distribution was as follows: 65% White American, 7.1% African-American, 6% Asian-American (estimates placed them at 10%), 2% others (American Indians and Pacific Islanders) and the remaining 20% were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
Large numbers of new residents in the state originate from California, which led some locals to feel that their state is being "Californicated".[12] Nevada also has a sizable Basque ancestry population. In Douglas and Pershing Counties, a plurality of residents are of Mexican ancestry with Clark County (Las Vegas) being home to over 200,000 Mexican Americans alone; Nye County and Humboldt County have a plurality of Germans; and Washoe County has many of Irish ancestry. Las Vegas is home to rapid-growing ethnic communities like Scandinavians, Italians, Poles, American Jews and Armenians.
Largely African-American sections of Las Vegas ("the Meadows") and Reno can be found. Many current African-American Nevadans are newly transplanted residents from California, the Midwest, or the East Coast. However, employment in the US Armed forces, hotels and domestic services have attracted black Americans since the 1950s.
Since the California Gold Rush of the 1850s brought thousands of Chinese miners to Washoe county, Asian Americans lived in the state. They were followed by few hundreds of Japanese farm workers in the late 1800s. By the late 20th century, many immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, Philippines and recently from India and Vietnam, came to the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The city now has one of America's most prolific Asian-American communities, with a mostly Chinese and Taiwanese area known as "Chinatown" west of I-15 on Spring Mountain Boulevard, and an "Asiatown" shopping mall for Asian customers located at Charleston Avenue/Paradise Boulevard.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 16.19% of Nevada's population aged 5 and older speak Spanish at home, while 1.59% speak Filipino and 1% speak Chinese languages; the majority of those who do not speak English at home live in ethnic sections of Central Las Vegas.
6.8% of the state's population were reported as under 5, 26.3% under 18, and 13.6% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population. As a result of its rapid population growth, Nevada has a higher percentage of residents born outside of the state than anywhere else in the entire country. Las Vegas was a major destination for immigrants from South Asia and Latin America seeking employment in the gaming and hospitality industries during the 1990s and 2000s, but farming and construction is the biggest employer of immigrant labor.
From about the 1940s until 2003, Nevada was the fastest-growing state in the US percentage-wise. Between 1990 and 2000, Nevada's population increased 66.3%, while the USA's population increased 13.1%. Over two thirds of the population, live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. In 2010, illegal immigrants constituted an estimated 8.8% of the population. This was the highest percentage of any state in the country.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Nevada's total state product in 2007 was $127 billion. Resort areas such as Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Laughlin attract visitors from around the nation and world. In FY08 the total of 266 casinos with gaming revenue over $1m for the year, brought in revenue of $12 billion in gaming revenue, and $13 billion in non-gaming revenue. A review of gaming statistics can be found at Nevada gaming area.
The state's Per capita personal income in 2007 was $39,853, ranking sixteenth in the nation.
As of May 2010, the state's unemployment rate is the worst in the nation at 14.0%.
Its agricultural outputs are cattle, hay, alfalfa, dairy products, onions, and potatoes. Its industrial outputs are tourism, mining, machinery, printing and publishing, food processing, and electric equipment.
In portions of the state outside of the Las Vegas and Reno metropolitan areas, mining and cattle ranching are the major economic activities. By value, gold is by far the most important mineral mined. In 2004, 6.8 million ounces of gold worth $2.84 billion were mined in Nevada, and the state accounted for 8.7% of world gold production (see Gold mining in Nevada). Silver is a distant second, with 10.3 million ounces worth $69 million mined in 2004 (see Silver mining in Nevada). Other minerals mined in Nevada include construction aggregates, copper, gypsum, diatomite and lithium. Despite its rich deposits, the cost of mining in Nevada is generally high, and output is very sensitive to world commodity prices.
As of January 1, 2006 there were an estimated 500,000 head of cattle and 70,000 head of sheep in Nevada. Most of these animals forage on rangeland in the summer, with supplemental feed in the winter. Calves are generally shipped to out-of-state feedlots in the fall to be fattened for market. Over 90% of Nevada's 484,000 acres (1,960 km2) of cropland is used to grow hay, mostly alfalfa, for livestock feed.
Nevada is also one of only a few states with no personal income tax and no corporate income tax. The state sales tax in Nevada is variable depending upon the county. The minimum statewide tax rate is 6.85%, with five counties Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, and Mineral charging this minimum amount. All other counties assess various option taxes, making the combined state/county sales taxes rate in one county as high as 8.1%, which is the amount charged in Clark county. Sales tax in the other major counties: Carson at 7.475%, Washoe at 7.725%. The minimum Nevada sales tax rate changed on 1 July 2009.
Nevada has by far the most hotel rooms per capita in the United States. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association there were 187,301 rooms in 584 hotels (of 15 or more rooms). The state is ranked just below CA,TX,FL, and NY in total number of rooms, but those states have much larger populations. Nevada has one hotel room for every 14 residents, far below the national average of one hotel room per 67 residents.
Prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada in licensed brothels, but only counties with populations under 400,000 residents have the option to legalize it. Although prostitution employs roughly 300 women as independent contractors, and not a major part of the Nevada economy, it is a very visible endeavor. Of the 14 counties that are permitted to legalize prostitution under state law, about 8 have chosen to legalize brothels. State law prohibits prostitution in Clark County (which contains Las Vegas),and Washoe County (which contains Reno).However, prostitution is legal in Storey county which is part of the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area.
Although Nevada is not well-known for its professional sports, the state takes pride in college sports, most notably the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack of the Western Athletic Conference and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels of the Mountain West Conference.
UNLV is most remembered for their basketball program, which experienced its height of supremacy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Coached by Jerry Tarkanian, the Runnin' Rebels became one of the most elite programs in the country. In 1990, UNLV won the Men's Division I Championship by defeating Duke University 103–73, which set tournament records for most points scored by a team and largest margin of victory in the national title game. In 1991, UNLV finished the regular season undefeated. Forward Larry Johnson won several awards, including the Naismith Award. UNLV reached the Final Four yet again, but lost their national semifinal against Duke 79-77, and is referred to as one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA Tournament. The Runnin' Rebels were the Associated Press pre-season #1 back to back (1989–90, 1990–91). North Carolina is the only other team to accomplish that (2007–08, 2008–09). And is home to one of the most famous tennis players of all time Andre Agassi.
Complete List of Nevada sports teams. Professional
• Las Vegas Locomotives, United Football League
• Las Vegas 51s, Minor League Baseball (AAA)
• Las Vegas Wranglers, ECHL
• Battle Born Derby Demons, Roller Derby
• Reno Aces, Minor League Baseball (AAA)
• Reno Bighorns, NBA D-League
College
• Nevada Wolf Pack, UNR
• UNLV Rebels
The state is also home to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Nascar event and the National Rodeo.
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- Battle Mountain
- Bolder City
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- Carson City
- Crystal Bay
- Dayton
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- Ely
- Eureka
- Fallon
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- Gardnerville
- Hawthorne
- Henderson
- Incline Village
- Las Vegas
- Logandale
- Mesquite
- Minden
- N. Las Vegas
- North Las Vegas
