Elko, NV

Micro Area Profile

55,632 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Elko, NV micropolitan area.

53out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 35% of 834 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 9 sources
OpportunityTop 15% of 835 metro and micro areas measured71
GrowthTop 34% of 834 metro and micro areas measured59
Housing affordabilityTop 4% of 835 metro and micro areas measured87
Climate794th of 835 metro and micro areas measured52
Physical resilience835th of 835 metro and micro areas measured1
Access759th of 835 metro and micro areas measured45
Economic stabilityTop 33% of 835 metro and micro areas measured66
The quick read

Elko ranks in the top 15% of metro and micro areas measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $85,882.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most metro and micro areas measured: rent takes 24% of renter income and the median home is 3.0 times what its owners earn.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by wildfire, earthquake and heat wave.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
55,632
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$85,882
Top 11% nationally
Density
3/sq mi
21,349 sq mi of land
Median age
36.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
Area type
Micropolitan area
Nevada
Nearest major airport
ENV
81 mi · Wendover
Median home value
$297,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4%, lower than in 80% of the 835 measured US metro and micro areas.

Employment grew 0.9% over the past year, to 27,563 employed residents.

Median household income of $85,882 is higher than in 89% of measured US metro and micro areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$5,6822024 ACS 5-Year$85,882Top 11%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,7702024 ACS 5-Year$38,959Top 32%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.7%Top 19%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year30.4 minBottom 7%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.8%Bottom 13%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year63.2%3rd percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202627,563Bottom 38%of 835July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.5%Top 30%of 835July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.9%Top 19%of 835July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202628,52338th percentileof 835July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.6%Top 29%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%99th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 26%of 835July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.4%Top 20%of 835July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%16th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.42.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.4% in July 2026. It has been falling for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

32% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.0 students for every full-time teacher across 30 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
38
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.0
across 30 of them
Math proficiency
31.8%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
44.5%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 38 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Elko High SchoolElko1,40721.320%42%
Spring Creek High SchoolElko88022.024%50%
Spring Creek Middle SchoolElko70821.534%48%
Flagview Intermediate SchoolElko67421.135%44%
Adobe Middle SchoolElko66823.033%41%
Liberty Peak Elementary SchoolElko57917.0——
Southside Elementary SchoolElko51121.341%43%
Mountain View Elementary SchoolElko50716.958%60%
West Wendover Elementary SchoolElko41918.217%27%
Sage Elementary SchoolElko41316.538%46%
Spring Creek Elementary SchoolElko40016.048%62%
Elko Institute for Academic Achievement · charterState Sponsored Charter Schools39823.442%37%

47.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Nevada’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,466 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.49% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,530, some 32% above the $1,158 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,530 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $61,200 a year, about 71% of the median household income here of $85,882.

The typical renter household here spends 24% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,158 a month.

A median home at $297,500 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $98,730, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
23.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,530
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,158
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$297,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Elko’s median household income of $85,882, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.0Bottom 33%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.7%61st percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1772024 ACS 5-Year23,15335th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,166Bottom 21%of 818FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,933Bottom 19%of 818FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,530Bottom 17%of 818FY2026
Median gross rent ±$662024 ACS 5-Year$1,158Bottom 26%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,4342024 ACS 5-Year$297,50074th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1072024 ACS 5-Year$1,46633rd percentileof 9332024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,3962024 ACS 5-Year$98,730Top 16%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.49%14th percentileof 9322024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.7%Top 5%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2312024 ACS 5-Year75043rd percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.2%66th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%67th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3662024 ACS 5-Year2,90432nd percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

59/ 100
Top 34% of 834 published metro profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 56,240 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 139 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 8% are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metro and micro areas.

Units permitted
139
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.5
Bottom 48% nationally
Year over year
+25%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
7.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202456k56k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 16°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 10.0 inches, including 41.2 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ELKO RGNL AP, 13.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals10.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals41.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals16°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

1 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are wildfire, inland flooding and earthquake, with wildfire alone responsible for 81% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, avalanche, landslide, inland flooding, lightning, drought, cold wave, hail, strong wind, volcanic activity, tornado, coastal flooding, hurricane, tsunami, ice storm.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Death-certificate rates
The CDC publishes these rates by county, so a metropolitan area carries none of its own. The county profiles inside it do.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index by county, and only where a monitor sits, so a metropolitan area carries none of its own. The county profiles inside it show it where one exists.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Wendover at 81 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.3%Top 42%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle81 miBottom 12%of 835NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 4%of 835NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.8%Top 41%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
WendoverENV81 mi10,002 ft
Joslin Fld/Magic Valley RgnlTWF122 mi8,704 ft
Ogden-HinckleyOGD186 mi8,107 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
53
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.