Nye County, Nevada

The largest of Nevada's 17 counties by land area.

CountyFIPS 32023

Within Nevada
Nye County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Tonopah, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
57,336
+5,350 (+10.3%) since 2020
Land area
18,182
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
3.2
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Tonopah
Seat of county government.
Established
1864
161 years ago
Largest city
Not available
No incorporated place lies within this county.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Nye County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Nye County, Nevada from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 651 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Nye County ranks

Position among the 17 counties of Nevada, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn NevadaNationally
Population57,3365th of 17925th of 3,144
Land area18,182 sq mi1st of 1713th of 3,144
Population density3.2 per sq mi9th of 172,890th of 3,144
Median household income$60,71415th of 172,019th of 3,143

Full data for Nye County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population57,336Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202051,986Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?51,591Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area18,182 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area16.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area18,199 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?3.2 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$60,714American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$290,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age52.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households22,175American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units25,289American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-570
399 births, 969 deaths
Net migration
+1,566
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 9 areas bordering Nye County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Lincoln CountyNevada175 mi4,320
Esmeralda CountyNevada115 mi729
Inyo CountyCalifornia101 mi18,158
Mineral CountyNevada65 mi4,407
Lander CountyNevada64 mi5,872
Clark CountyNevada63 mi2,407,226
White Pine CountyNevada59 mi8,661
Eureka CountyNevada37 mi1,867
Churchill CountyNevada5.0 mi25,851

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 17 counties of Nevada

Open the interactive Nevada county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.