AreaProfile

Carson, Nevada

Area Profile

58,384 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Carson, in Carson City.

55
Area Score
Bottom 23% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 49% of 1,567 published cities56
GrowthTop 29% of 1,503 published cities62
Housing affordability1253rd of 1,876 published cities64
Climate1804th of 1,876 published cities54
Physical resilience1494th of 1,849 published cities22
Access1216th of 1,876 published cities90
Economic stability1220th of 1,876 published cities54
The quick read

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

Its Area Score of 55 places Carson in the top 77% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
58,384
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$72,355
Top 43% nationally
Density
404/sq mi
144.5 sq mi of land
Median age
42.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Carson City
Nevada
Metro area
Carson City, NV
Nearest major airport
TVL
22 mi · Lake Tahoe
Median home value
$453,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 70% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 28,272 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,090$72,355Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,316$39,432Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate10.3%Bottom 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.6 minBottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher23.7%Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment28,272Top 43%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.1%Top 23%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.0%Bottom 18%June 2026
Labor force29,429Top 44%June 2026
Labor force participation59.1%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$68,900Top 49%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$56,680Top 26%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 23%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.9%Bottom 30%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/064.83.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.9% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202472k62k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $72,355 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Carson City, NV
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive960$49,270
General and Operations Managers890$103,160
Registered Nurses820$101,370
Retail Salespersons740$37,490
Fast Food and Counter Workers670$30,010
Cashiers600$34,310

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,248 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
20.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,248
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$453,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income6.26Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate62.3%Bottom 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8825,156Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$61$1,248Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,997$453,000Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.7%Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.8%Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
62/ 100
Top 29% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 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 fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 58,148 in 2024.

At 7.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
443
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.6
Top 19% nationally
Year over year
−1%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
36.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202459k58k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025573242
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+118%).

Weather & climate

3 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 80°F and January a low of 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 20.5 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SOUTH LAKE TAHOE AP, 22.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation20.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high80°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months31991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing31°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

22 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake and wildfire.

EarthquakeElevated
WildfireHigh

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Lake TahoeTVL22 mi8,541 ft
Reno/Tahoe IntlRNO24 mi11,001 ft
Reno/SteadRTS36 mi9,000 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
55
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Carson

3 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8970128,766$73,18455
8970620,478$62,81553
8970310,738$85,23057