Las Vegas was established in 1905, and became the most populous American city founded in the twentieth century when it officially became a city in 1911. Las Vegas does not include the unincorporated areas around it, the most famous of which is the Strip. The 4 mile part of Las Vegas Boulevard known as the Strip is in the unincorporated communities of Paradise, Winchester and Enterprise. Only as small portion of the Strip is in Las Vegas itself. Thus funnily enough many people who think they have visited Las Vegas have not done so at all!
As for the people that call Las Vegas home, the thousands of people of people that arrive each month come from a range of backgrounds and ethnicities. Looking at Las Vegas demographics, although the city itself had a population of 558,383, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area has 1,865,746.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is one of the fastest growing places in the United States, and this is fueled by new residents arriving every month, with over 40% of these from California. Around 20% come from the Northeast and Southwest, 10% from the Midwest, 10% from the South and 5% from the Northwest. One good way to track the incomers is via the DMV which records vehicles switching states. That data tells us that the states driving in to register cars in Nevada come mainly from California, followed by Arizona, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Michigan and Washington.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the ethnic background of Las Vegans is:
- White Americans: 70.8%
- Blacks or African Americans:10.6%
- American Indians: 0.7%
- Asian Americans: 5.0%
- Pacific Islander Americans: 0.4%
- Individuals from two or more races: 3.5%
- Hispanics and Latinos: 29.2% (there are Hispanic whites, blacks etc.)
As the population has expanded so has the number of Republicans. Las Vegas demographics have changed such that in a state that used to be 75% Democrat, nearly half of registered voters are now Republicans. In 2000 Las Vegas was made up of 478,434 people, 176,750 households, and 117,538 families. That meant that it had a population density of 4,223 per square mile. Of the 176,750 households, 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.20.
In terms of age 25.9% in 2000 were under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $53,000 and the median income for a family was $58,465. Males had a median income of $35,511 versus $27,554 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,060. About 6.6% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those aged 65 or over.