Lyon County, NV

County Profile

61,680 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Lyon County, NV.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 26% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity748th of 1,463 counties measured55
GrowthTop 16% of 1,453 counties measured69
Housing affordability1,166th of 1,462 counties measured64
Climate1,215th of 1,463 counties measured58
Physical resilience1,386th of 1,463 counties measured15
Access895th of 1,463 counties measured75
Economic stability759th of 1,463 counties measured59
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.5% and median household income $80,812, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

334 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 3% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 29% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 4.1 times what its owners earn.

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
61,680
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,812
Top 17% nationally
Density
31/sq mi
2,003.1 sq mi of land
Median age
43.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lyon County
Nevada
Metro area
Nearest major airport
TVL
44 mi · Lake Tahoe
Median home value
$366,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% — higher than in all but 35% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.2% over the past year, to 28,531 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$68,49570th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$57,37649th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,1562024 ACS 5-Year$80,812Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8912024 ACS 5-Year$38,076Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$49,787Bottom 23%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year31.2 minBottom 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.0%Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%44th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202628,531Bottom 45%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.4%Top 23%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Top 36%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202629,87045th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.6%Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year1.0%86th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 42%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.5%Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%47th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.13.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% in July 2026. It has been rising, 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202481k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,812 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 — Reno, NV

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand8,960$43,990
Stockers and Order Fillers8,230$38,020
General and Operations Managers7,930$106,050
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators7,550$49,050
Retail Salespersons7,020$35,160
Fast Food and Counter Workers6,900$31,530

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 20.3 students for every full-time teacher across 18 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
19
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
20.3
across 18 of them
Math proficiency
31.3%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
41.9%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 19 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Fernley High SchoolLyon1,32724.123%44%
Dayton High SchoolLyon74822.727%42%
Silverland Middle SchoolLyon67723.335%51%
Fernley Intermediate SchoolLyon65824.438%46%
Cottonwood Elementary SchoolLyon57220.434%39%
East Valley Elementary SchoolLyon51821.652%52%
Yerington Elementary SchoolLyon46520.227%27%
Riverview Elementary SchoolLyon45216.735%40%
Dayton Elementary SchoolLyon45116.732%45%
Fernley Elementary SchoolLyon44215.832%37%
Sutro Elementary SchoolLyon42617.836%44%
Yerington High SchoolLyon41324.322%32%

100.0% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.0, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Reno, NV Metro Area is up 30% over five years, and up 3.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,668 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.46% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,272, close to the $1,326 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,272 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $50,900 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $80,812.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,326 a month.

A median home at $366,100 costs 4.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $90,029, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
98.0

Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Reno, NV Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
28.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,272
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,326
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$366,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Lyon County’s median household income of $80,812, 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
Cost of living indexthe Reno, NV Metro Area’s figure202398.0Bottom 35%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Reno, NV Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%57th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Reno, NV Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+30.3%10th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Reno, NV Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+107.7%73rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.1Bottom 10%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.7%62nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±442024 ACS 5-Year25,43670th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,076Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,769Bottom 32%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,272Bottom 40%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1262024 ACS 5-Year$1,326Bottom 12%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,1662024 ACS 5-Year$366,10088th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$692024 ACS 5-Year$1,66853rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,7892024 ACS 5-Year$90,029Top 24%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.46%12th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.6%Bottom 42%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1512024 ACS 5-Year31747th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%30th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%20th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3812024 ACS 5-Year1,69148th percentileof 3,2222024 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

69/ 100
Top 16% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 7% since 2020, reaching 63,718 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 409 units authorized in 2025, up 38% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 63,718 residents in 2024, up 1.7% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

Federal tax returns show Lyon County gained about 2.0% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $68,495, above the $57,376 of households that moved out.

At 5.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
334
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.4
Top 26% nationally
Year over year
−3%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
47.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202464k59k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+2.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
44%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$68,495
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$57,376
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Washoe County, NV 1,338 people · 28% of arrivals
  2. Carson City, NV 676 people · 14% of arrivals
  3. Douglas County, NV 190 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  4. Churchill County, NV 162 people · 3.3% of arrivals
  5. Clark County, NV 151 people · 3.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Washoe County, NV 971 people · 26% of departures
  2. Carson City, NV 408 people · 11% of departures
  3. Churchill County, NV 206 people · 5.4% of departures
  4. Douglas County, NV 148 people · 3.9% of departures
  5. Clark County, NV 106 people · 2.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025815295
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+27%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 4.6 inches, including 3.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 42, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station YERINGTON, 2.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND0.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals4.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals3.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year422024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
42
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
51
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

15 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire, with earthquake alone responsible for 36% of it.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeHigh
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Lyon County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.1 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 25.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.6 per 100,000 residents in Lyon County.

Homicide
4.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
25.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
25.6
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Lyon County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

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.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Lake Tahoe at 44 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year93.5%Top 6%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle44 miBottom 38%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%Top 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Lake TahoeTVL44 mi8,541 ft
Reno/Tahoe IntlRNO45 mi11,001 ft
Reno/SteadRTS58 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
52
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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)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
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.

Cities in Lyon County, NV