Where Nevada’s Economy Ranks In The Country

It seems that living in the Silver State has its ups and downs. But where does Nevada's economy rank in the country as compared to other states? You might be a bit surprised when you find out.

According to a report by CNBC, they listed the best and worst economies in the country. Factors that were included were job growth, the financial situation of the specific state, the health of the housing market and more.

Even with COVID-19 hitting our city hard a few years ago, we've seemed to have rebounded very well. Not to mention the influx of sports to Las Vegas, it seems that everyone wants to be a part of what's going on here.

The Golden Knights win a Stanley Cup, the Las Vegas Aces win back-to-back WNBA Championships and now we may even have Major League Baseball coming to Las Vegas. F1 made its debut in Las Vegas to add dollar signs to our state's economy overall. So, it's been a good couple of years.

Now some may agree or disagree with this. But remember, many factors were entered to figure out which state had the best and worst economy.

When it comes to the economy of each state, it seems that Florida is #1 in the country. Followed by Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arizona rounding out the top 5.

Keep in mind that all these rankings were part of a bigger study of which states were considered the best when it came to business in 2024. With that said, when it comes to business, coming in at the bottom of the list is Hawaii!

Surprising right? Maybe not...followed by Mississippi, Alaska, Louisiana, and Montana. All are at the bottom of the list. If you're wondering about the two states with the biggest cities in the country rank, they are average.

In other words, both New York and California seem to be okay right now. They both rank in the middle of the list right now. According to the report, both rank well when it comes to technology and innovation, as well as quality of life. But near the bottom when you talk business stuff.

It all sounds quite confusing, but really, where does Nevada's economy rank as compared to other states? Proud to say that we are 8th in the country. But when it comes to the Business 2024 study, it seems that we fall a bit down to #39th!

Let's face it: The economy is a little delicate right now. It seems that the cost of items is increasing, it's harder to take vacations and things just seem economically stagnant. You may be looking for a career change or possible other jobs in Las Vegas.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job openings plummeted in April, equating to be the lowest level in three years.

From this statistic, it seems that the job market is definitely becoming more competitive. And according to the Washington Post, "Hiring is slowing, especially for recent graduates, with coveted white-collar employers pulling back on new postings."

 We don't want this bleak forecast on the labor market to scare you. Even in times of recession, there is opportunity for economic growth. Along with that, Nevada's economic data is showing a positive growth in regards to some economic indicators. The Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development reports a growth in the state's gross domestic product (GDP), median household income and labor force employment in 2023.

But, this doesn't take away from our unemployment rate. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nevada's unemployment rate in April 2024 was 5.1%. In comparison to the rest of the country, that's one of the highest unemployment rates.

We're basically right behind California, which has a 5.3% unemployment rate during the same data period.

An online financial publication called CPA Practice Advisor reported and interviewed David Schmidt, the chief economist at the State of Nevada Department of Employment, Training, & Rehabilitation, which is a state workforce development agency.

Schmidt said we have more people who are "entering the labor market, or re-entering the labor market, or voluntarily left their last job as opposed to people who lost it."

Although inflation does feel suffocating, wage gains have seemed to benefit hospitality workers, and these gains "have outpaced inflation," CPA Practice Advisor Reports.

During Covid-19, the state of Nevada created a "Workforce Blueprint." This would be a resource for civilians to see the most hottest and needed jobs in Southern Nevada.

According to the report, "One of the more crucial impacts has been the destabilization of the region’s leisure and hospitality sector that, while positively recovering from the height of the pandemic, is expected to see sustained and possibly permanent job losses in the tens of thousands."

Due to this, the state -- along with other agencies -- decided to get together and analyze date. This data would help uncover the most in-demand jobs that skilled and technical workers are needed in. Scroll down below to see the top five.

Click here for the entire list and data.

The fifth most in-demand career in Las Vegas with a positive job growth is a veterinarian. From our guess, the growing population in Las Vegas also means an explosion in dogs, cats, etc. Most likely, there hasn't been an equal growth of veterinarian clinics to suffice the need of the exploding population.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also said that, "Employment of veterinarians is projected to grow 20 percent from 2022 to 2032, much faster than the average for all occupations." So, it seems that getting your foot into the door by working as a vet tech would help this career step. The average wage for a vet is around $119,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics further reports.

This one slightly confused us when we saw it on the list. But, once we read the data -- it became more clear.

The data from our state says, "Managers, All Other (11-9199) and General and Operations Managers (11-1021) indicates the business and financial services industry cluster continues to remain a significant focal area of the Southern Nevada regional economy."

The term "Manager and All Others," is actually a classification under the U.S. labor and tax system. The main industries that use this job classification are federal, state and local governments, management of companies and enterprises, management, scientific, and technical consulting services, the U.S. labor data reports.

Civil engineering is a broad term. But, it usually means that you work with local infrastructures like roads, bridges, dams, etc. Again, the growing population has created a need for this job. As more developers build residential and commercial areas, there will be a need for civil engineers.

On Linkedin, there are a few openings for civil engineers. The growth rate for civil engineers is about 5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

With the rise of e-commerce, a majority of our digital ecosystem has transferred to be online. This job entails being a quality assurance analysts. Along with that, you often test computer systems and designs, the U.S. labor bureau reports. The 10 year growth is projected to be around 25%, which is a very promising number.

A software developer is constantly listed as one of the "top-earning" jobs in tech. With the need of cloud services, more manufacturing and commerce in Las Vegas, we'll need people who can develop applications and software that can accommodate our needs. If you've ever had a bug in your software then you know how irritating they can be. It often causes the software to act unexpectedly and incorrectly. Software developers are crucial to help ameliorate these problems.

According to Learn.org, "An application developer creates or writes programs for a particular operating system (i.e, Windows, Mac OS X or UNIX), the web or a device." It's basically similar to the software developing job listed above. It constantly remains as one of the most in-demand jobs across the country. 

An application developer usually starts the project, outlines the program's input and output and then codes. Once the developer codes, they often run tests and add the magic finishes, Learn.org further states.

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