Nevada workforce is expanding thanks to AI boom, diversifying economy

The sparsely populated state, known for its world-class casinos and dry desert climate, has been a bright spot in the warm U.S. job market.

Nevada’s workforce grew 1.9% from April 2025 to 2026, the highest growth of any state. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Nationally, the rate increased by just 0.2% over the same period.

Data shows that nearly 12% of new U.S. jobs were created in Nevada this 12 months. This is a huge win for the Silver State, which has just 1% of the national population.

Economic leaders in Nevada say their success is the result of years of work to diversify business activities beyond gambling and entertainment. Home to 3.3 million people, Nevada has long benefited from its proximity to California and is increasingly becoming a hub for AI infrastructure.

Economically, Nevada is “a relatively small state that is mentioned in the same breath as California, Texas and Florida,” said David Schmidt, the state’s chief economist. Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. The job market, in particular, is showing “truly remarkable numbers.”

‘Widespread’ workforce growth

Last year, Nevada saw the most growth in professional and business services roles, which Schmidt attributed to favorable state tax policies. Education and health care positions also made the biggest contributions, part of a national trend of increasing job gains in health care.

Schmidt said companies have long sought Nevada for new or expanded mines, spurred by abundant supplies of lithium, a key component of batteries used to help power artificial intelligence models. The economist said Nevada’s 110,000 square miles offer large open lands attractive for building AI-related infrastructure such as data centers.

One of the few signs of contraction in Nevada’s labor economy came in public jobs, which fell last year, preventing an even stronger expansion. But even there, Schmidt said Nevada has been less affected than other states by President Trump’s efforts to restrict government hiring because of its small number of federal employees.

At first glance, the strength of Nevada’s labor market is surprising, given the softness of the state’s iconic gambling industry. Revenues for the Las Vegas Strip’s largest casinos fell nearly 4% between fiscal 2024 and 2025. Nevada Gaming Control Card It was published this month.

But the economy of the Las Vegas metropolitan area, home to the lion’s share of the state’s population, has become less and less reliant on gaming. An analysis of federal data found that from 2016 to 2025, nearly 60% of new jobs in the region came from industries other than hospitality, construction and government. Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance he told CNBC.

“The thing that stands out most when looking at the data is how widespread the growth is,” Schmidt said.

Nevada is bucking what economists have described as a national “explosion unemployment” and a “low-hiring, low-fire” job market. But now the national labor market may be unraveling: Nonfarm payroll growth in May was more than double Wall Street’s forecast. BLS scheduled to release latest breakdown of employment by state next week.

‘Untapped’ talent pool

According to Indeed, an online job site, Nevada-based job postings increased by about 20% compared to February 2020, while the national number was up about 2%. Employment agency ManpowerGroup found that demand for workers in Nevada held up better in the second quarter than in the average state.

The majority of hiring in Nevada may be coming from large companies, according to Gusto, a payroll platform for small and medium-sized businesses, which told CNBC that the net hiring rate is lower in Nevada than in the rest of the country.

For all the apparent growth, Nevada’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is above the national average, according to Stephen Miller, an economics professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; This is a possible reflection of the expansion of the workforce that has recovered since the Covid pandemic.

“We had a lot of people who were unemployed starting in 2020,” Miller said. “We still get along.”

A growing workforce is evident in Nevada’s above-average labor force participation rate; it’s a measure of the working-age population who is working or looking for work. Schmidt said this is a positive for employers looking to fill expansion in the state.

LV Petroleum CEO Kris Roach saw this story play out last year as he hired hundreds of workers to staff the company’s restaurants and travel centers.

Roach says finding staff is “very easy” and sometimes receives more than 100 applications for a manager position. Additionally, LV Petroleum’s expanded corporate office has plenty of white-collar workers (some of whom previously worked at Las Vegas casinos) to be hired in areas such as finance and human resources.

“This is a great state to operate in,” Roach said. “There is so much untapped talent.”

Beyond the Strip

Local economic advocates said Nevada must actively create jobs and attract workers to maintain its lead in job growth.

The Sun Belt state’s population has grown rapidly in recent years, and economists attribute that in part to its proximity to California. According to federal data, Nevada’s resident population increased by more than 62% from 2000 to 2025; This far exceeded the roughly 21% increase seen nationally.

One of the new residents is Emma Keserich, who came to Las Vegas from the Washington, D.C. area last summer. Metropolitan Washington, including suburbs in Virginia and Maryland, has lost thousands of jobs as a result of Trump’s federal government efficiency initiatives.

Keserich was at first surprised by the number of families in an area known for its recreation center and the natural beauty nearby. As vice president of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, Keserich touts short commute times and relative affordability when promoting the area to businesses.

Nevada’s cost of living was lower than neighboring states such as California, Idaho and Arizona in the first quarter. government investigator based in Missouri to create. The median hourly wage in Nevada rose nearly 6% from 2024 to 2025, the fifth-largest increase of any state, according to a CNBC analysis of BLS data.

“People think Las Vegas is just the Strip,” Keserich said. “There is something beyond what meets the eye.”