Henderson keeps title as Nevada’s fastest-growing city

For the second year in a row, Henderson is Nevada’s fastest-growing city.

The southeast Las Vegas Valley municipality grew by almost 10,800 people — about 3.6 percent — between July 2017 and 2018, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday. Its population increased by some 9,800 people — about 3.4 percent — from 2016 to 2017.

The second-largest city in Nevada, Henderson has added more than 50,000 people since 2010.

Economic Development Interim Director Ken Chapa attributed the growth to the city’s master-planned communities, which have attracted new residents with homes close to business hubs, high-quality schools and parks.

“Most of those people are probably coming from California,” Chapa said. “They see they can own a very nice home for less than they were paying in rent in California, and it’s a short drive away from where they’ll work. That’s a huge incentive.”

The growth soon will be complemented by a number of high-profile projects, including a Google data center and the NFL Raiders headquarters, slated for construction in the city by the end of 2020.

“I think it’s a realization of what every city wants to be,” Chapa said. “We’re not just a suburb of a larger area. We’re our own economy.”

Las Vegas, the state’s largest city, added some 9,000 people — an annual growth of about 1.4 percent — between July 2017 and 2018, Census estimates show. The only cities in the West that saw larger growth in population than Henderson and Las Vegas were Denver (11,053), San Diego (11,549) and Phoenix (25,288).

The new municipal population estimates are the latest from the census detailing growth in the Silver State.

In December, Nevada was crowned as the nation’s fastest-growing state, finally having exceeded a population of 3 million people. Estimates released last month show Clark County saw the second-largest population increase of any U.S. county between 2017 and 2018.

State Demographer Jeff Hardcastle said the state’s recovering economy is driving population growth through the creation of new jobs, especially in Southern Nevada.

“It’s getting a good bump because of the construction-related employment down there,” he said.

Despite its growth outpacing Las Vegas, Henderson is unlikely to take the title of the state’s most-populated city anytime soon. The census estimates Las Vegas has almost 645,000 residents, more than double that of Henderson’s about 310,000 residents.

It’s a different story between the state’s third- and fourth-largest cities. North Las Vegas now has only about 5,000 fewer residents than Reno, the smallest margin the census estimates have recorded between the two cities since 2010.

But real-time estimations from North Las Vegas put it ahead, city spokeswoman Delen Goldberg said.

“We think we’ve already surpassed Reno,” she said. “We’re ahead by about 100 people or 1,000. We’re neck and neck.”

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.