Like all states, Nevada has certain places that are going on hard times. These Nevada places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Nevada.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 15 cities in Nevada with more than 2,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Poorest Places In Nevada For 2025:
- Yerington
- West Wendover
- Fallon
- Las Vegas
- Elko
- Boulder City
- Reno
- North Las Vegas
- Carlin
- Mesquite
What’s the poorest city in Nevada? According to the facts, Yerington is the poorest place in Nevada for 2025.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more Nevada reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Nevada
- Cheapest Places To Live In Nevada
- 5 Most Dangerous Cities In Nevada
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In Nevada For 2025
1. Yerington
/10
Population: 3,139
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $44,974 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 20.8% (highest)
People In Poverty: 651
More on Yerington:
Yerington, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Nevada thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 3,139 people averages the lowest median household income in Nevada and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. West Wendover
/10
Population: 4,507
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 8)
Median Income: $47,394 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.2% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 731
More on West Wendover:
The second poorest city in Nevada is West Wendover.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 14th highest in the Silver State.
3. Fallon
/10
Population: 9,371
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $65,699 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 13.0% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,221
More on Fallon: Data
Placing as the third poorest city, Fallon’s median income ranks as the 4th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 13.04% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Silver State.
4. Las Vegas
/10
Population: 650,873
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 2)
Median Income: $70,723 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.2% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 92,554
More on Las Vegas: Data
Las Vegas ranks as the fourth poorest place in Nevada.
The town ranks as having the 6th lowest median household income and the 3rd highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Elko
/10
Population: 20,624
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 6)
Median Income: $75,630 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.3% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,536
More on Elko: Data
The fifth poorest city in Nevada is Elko.
The city ranks as having the 8th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 6th highest in Nevada.
Still not the best news for Elko.
6. Boulder City
/10
Population: 14,888
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $69,145 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 10.8% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,615
More on Boulder City: Data
Boulder City ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Silver State.
It ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty and the 4th highest unemployment rate.
7. Reno
/10
Population: 268,959
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 3)
Median Income: $78,448 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.5% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 33,592
More on Reno: Data
Reno places as the seventh poorest city in Nevada.
The city of over 268,959 ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. North Las Vegas
/10
Population: 270,773
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 3)
Median Income: $76,772 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.2% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 33,061
More on North Las Vegas: Data
North Las Vegas ranks as the eighth poorest city in Nevada.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
9. Carlin
/10
Population: 2,164
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Income: $62,232 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 6.1% (15th highest)
People In Poverty: 131
More on Carlin:
Carlin couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Nevada; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 3rd lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Carlin ranks as having the 15th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Nevada.
10. Mesquite
/10
Population: 21,314
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 3)
Median Income: $74,439 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 10.5% (11th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,246
More on Mesquite: Data
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Nevada is Mesquite.
The city of 21,314 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Silver State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Nevada for 2025
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2019-2023 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 15 places with more than 2,000 people in Nevada, we ranked each place from 1 to 15 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Yerington, crowned the “Poorest Place In Nevada For 2025”.
This report has been updated for 2025, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Nevada.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Nevada For 2025
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest 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 bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Nevada, according to data:
-
Richest: Henderson
2nd Richest: Sparks
3rd Richest: Ely
For more Nevada reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Nevada
- Safest Places In Nevada
- Worst Places To Live In Nevada
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Nevada
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Nevada
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yerington | 3,139 | 20.8% | $44,974 | 651 |
| 2 | West Wendover | 4,507 | 16.2% | $47,394 | 731 |
| 3 | Fallon | 9,371 | 13.0% | $65,699 | 1,221 |
| 4 | Las Vegas | 650,873 | 14.2% | $70,723 | 92,554 |
| 5 | Elko | 20,624 | 12.3% | $75,630 | 2,536 |
| 6 | Boulder City | 14,888 | 10.8% | $69,145 | 1,615 |
| 7 | Reno | 268,959 | 12.5% | $78,448 | 33,592 |
| 8 | North Las Vegas | 270,773 | 12.2% | $76,772 | 33,061 |
| 9 | Carlin | 2,164 | 6.1% | $62,232 | 131 |
| 10 | Mesquite | 21,314 | 10.5% | $74,439 | 2,246 |
| 11 | Winnemucca | 8,391 | 11.8% | $80,844 | 992 |
| 12 | Fernley | 23,631 | 11.3% | $87,991 | 2,677 |
| 13 | Ely | 3,941 | 10.0% | $86,389 | 393 |
| 14 | Sparks | 109,106 | 9.0% | $86,979 | 9,841 |
| 15 | Henderson | 324,523 | 8.4% | $88,654 | 27,292 |
Lived in Henderson for 20+yrs and hated it hoping and planning to move out of the country in fact. Don’t believe all the hype of people moving here its the State, Housing and Casino industries making up all that nonsense most people I know are moving out of state etc.
This place has NOTHING to do unless you gamble or like the desert scenery which 99% is off limits or you need to pay or its dangerous to go out there etc lots of hikers, bikers and tourists have been robbed, raped or worst at Red Rock or anyone of the outdoor sites the one thing the tourist industries NEVER mention just look em up online . Its either very hot or very cold which also causes deaths, lots of homeless lots.
NV is the foreclosure capital of the world there are tens of thousands of vacant foreclosed home from the housing scam crash of 2008 so unless you want some 10,20 or even a 50yr old house which all need a lot of work as vacant homes in this type of weather deteriorate faster than less hostile temp states and the houses are not all that “cheap” as all the adverts tell you yes of course cheaper than LA or HI (where I came from stupidly) but with most decent used ones, you’re are better off buying a new one as the prices in the average or safer areas are in the $4oo-6ook range so the gap is not as big as they say all the “cheap” ones are in shady less nice areas with more crime obviously.
Hardly any public transportation and all the car dealers here are so bad we always bought our cars out of state and luckily got a good service dealer center here. There is a lot of crime so only tourist go out at night and with this new virus it may well end this city as gambling was way done before all the craziness. And the medical aka doctors here are all over the place eg: its very hard to find a good one.
So if you like walking in a Afghanistan like scenery town or like to lose money gambling and or shopping at Walmart or Sams Club as they are all over the place then this is the state for you. For us it just became boring as heck its NOT like any other state there really is nothing to do here but gamble no joke….Like they good place to visit NEVER to live .