Elko, Sparks, Henderson: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in Nevada. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Silver State.
Elko in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $77,659 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 12.359494179044562%.
If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Nevada share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey for the 15 places in Nevada with more than 3,000 people.
Here are the 10 richest places in Nevada for 2022:
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Nevada.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Nevada:
The 10 Richest Cities In Nevada For 2022
1. Elko
/10
Population: 20,396
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 2)
Median Income: $77,659
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 12.4%
More on Elko: Real Estate | Photos
2. Sparks
/10
Population: 102,895
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 4)
Median Income: $67,187
Unemployment Rate: 5.8%
Poverty Rate: 9.2%
More on Sparks: Real Estate | Photos
3. Henderson
/10
Population: 309,955
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 2)
Median Income: $75,430
Unemployment Rate: 7.0%
Poverty Rate: 8.0%
More on Henderson: Real Estate | Photos
4. Fernley
/10
Population: 20,616
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Median Income: $66,525
Unemployment Rate: 6.4%
Poverty Rate: 9.2%
More on Fernley: Real Estate | Photos
5. Winnemucca
/10
Population: 7,752
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 3)
Median Income: $67,574
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 14.5%
More on Winnemucca: Real Estate | Photos
6. Boulder City
/10
Population: 16,048
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Median Income: $62,792
Unemployment Rate: 6.5%
Poverty Rate: 11.3%
More on Boulder City: Real Estate | Photos
7. Carson City
/10
Population: 55,244
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Income: $58,305
Unemployment Rate: 4.6%
Poverty Rate: 10.0%
More on Carson City: Real Estate | Photos
8. Mesquite
/10
Population: 19,087
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 3)
Median Income: $59,206
Unemployment Rate: 6.6%
Poverty Rate: 7.7%
More on Mesquite: Real Estate | Photos
9. Reno
/10
Population: 250,903
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 1)
Median Income: $61,860
Unemployment Rate: 5.3%
Poverty Rate: 12.6%
More on Reno: Real Estate | Photos
10. Ely
/10
Population: 3,993
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 4)
Median Income: $60,927
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 13.1%
More on Ely: Real Estate | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In Nevada For 2022
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2016-2020 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 15 places with more than 3,000 people in Nevada, we ranked each place from 1 to 15 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Elko, crowned the “Richest City In Nevada For 2022”. You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 15 places.
Summary: The Wealthiest Places In Nevada For 2022
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Nevada, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Nevada.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Nevada, according to data:
Poorest: Yerington
2nd Poorest: Las Vegas
3rd Poorest: North Las Vegas
For more Nevada reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Nevada
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elko | 3.33 |
| 2 | Sparks | 5.0 |
| 3 | Henderson | 5.67 |
| 4 | Fernley | 6.0 |
| 5 | Winnemucca | 6.0 |
| 6 | Boulder City | 7.33 |
| 7 | Carson City | 7.33 |
| 8 | Mesquite | 7.33 |
| 9 | Reno | 7.33 |
| 10 | Ely | 7.67 |
| 11 | West Wendover | 9.67 |
| 12 | Fallon | 10.33 |
| 13 | North Las Vegas | 10.67 |
| 14 | Las Vegas | 12.0 |
| 15 | Yerington | 14.33 |
