Booming population bodes well for Vegas
Analyst: Year’s influx ‘fantastic for us’ here
Las Vegas is thriving amid a population boom.
Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst at Applied Analysis, said Tuesday that on average, 4.9 people have moved to Las Vegas every hour over the past year.
Speaking to a crowd of more than 600 at the 38th annual Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance’s Perspective event, Aguero said the population expansion in Nevada over the past year was nearly three times the national average, and Las Vegas ranked second in population growth rate nationwide.
“It’s been fantastic for us,” he said during the event at Park MGM. It “means new business opportunities. Every one of them is a new consumer; every one of them is a new employee.”
Of those new residents, 34 percent came from California. Aguero said many were attracted to the neighboring state’s affordable homes, growing tech sector and reputation as a business-friendly state. Today, San Jose natives can expect to pay about $2,000 to rent a U-haul to Las Vegas. Returning would cost only $100, he said.
“They’ll essentially pay you to bring it back,” Aguero said.
Partly because of this rapid growth, more investors are finding economic opportunities in Las Vegas. There are $18 billion in planned, proposed and current construction projects in Las Vegas today, ranging from the new Raiders stadium to roadwork.
“I know Project Neon is a giant pain,” Aguero said. But “when it is done, that 30 percent increase in capacity in that area is going to change the potential for our community as a whole. … It’s putting people back to work and reinvesting in our commu
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nity.”
Aguero said that to continue this growth, the state needs to invest in transportation and education. With more businesses coming to Nevada — there have been 9,900 new businesses in the state since 2011, he said — those that want to grow are dealing with a worker shortfall.
A fundamental step to drawing more businesses and people is “building that market and making the best Southern Nevada that we can to get the most growth and the most out of our market,” Aguero