Southern Nevada is still growing, but a new forecast suggests it will take longer than previously expected for the Las Vegas Valley to reach a major population milestone.

Clark County’s population growth is slowing down, delaying a projected 3 million residents milestone by 10 years, according to a new population forecast from UNLV.

UNLV’s CBER now projects the county won’t reach 3 million residents until 2055, downshifting expected growth over the next 10 years.

Fewer people are moving to the area and the "makeup" of the population is evolving, UNLV's Center for Business and Economic Research says.

UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research reported last year that the county would hit 3 million residents by 2045. It’s now estimated the county won’t reach that population figure until 2055, according to CBER’s 2026 Population Forecast report released Wednesday.

According to the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research, 40% of all small businesses in the state of Nevada were created after the COVID-19 pandemic. Hispanic-owned, Black-owned, and Asian-owned small businesses were among the fastest-growing in Nevada from 2019 to 2022. Women-owned small businesses outpaced male-owned businesses by 17% during that same time period.

To help fill the future shortfall, UNLV has created Nevada’s first bachelor’s degree program in insurance and risk management. UNLV is one of only four major West Coast universities to offer the program, which launched in September with 46 students.

Over 50 years ago, local real estate mogul Irwin Molasky donated 45 acres at Maryland Parkway and Flamingo Road — land that would become the heart of UNLV’s campus. That single gift set in motion the founding of the region’s first university.

A sweeping housing affordability proposal could eventually help level the playing field for renters and boost new home construction, but economic and real estate expert Dr. Nicholas Irwin said the impact will not be immediate as Southern Nevada continues to face high mortgage rates and broader economic uncertainty.

Tensions between the once-tight North American neighbors, sharing a 5,525-mile boundary, continue to rise with less than four months to go before the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections. The Nevada governor’s race is emerging as a piece of political collateral damage, with Gov. Joe Lombardo (R-NV) running for a second term against Nevada’s attorney general, Aaron Ford, the Democratic nominee.

Would-be Canadian visitors to Sin City won’t get a vote in Nevada’s gubernatorial election. But they could influence it in a profound way.

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