The state demographer says recent major economic developments, like landing Tesla's gigafactory, will bring close to 35,000 more residents to the state over the next two decades than what he had originally projected. Reno Public Radio's Michelle Bliss has the details.
Demographer Jeff Hardcastle just released his updated figures predicting that by 2032, Nevada will have 3.3 million residents.
Last month, Hardcastle released a draft of his projections, but a handful of significant economic developments prompted him to issue the update. Those developments include Tesla's forthcoming gigafactory, which will employ 6,500 people, along with the news that Ashima Devices, a drone manufacturing company based in California, is moving its headquarters to Northern Nevada and bringing 400 jobs to the region.
Hardcastle says that each of those jobs will increase the demand for various services throughout the state.
"There's these spin-off jobs--the barber, the doctor, the lawyer, the waitress--all those jobs," he explains. "But then you also have, as industry develops and matures, additional employment coming in potentially for research and development around Tesla."
Over the next two decades, Washoe County is expected to grow by almost 150,000 people, while Clark County will increase by roughly 330,000.
Overall, the state is expected to add more than half a million people in that timeframe.
