Tesla Gigafactory Expected to Have Huge Impact on Nevada Population

Oct 09, 2014 03:50 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

Nevada will likely have 35,000 more residents in 2032 than it would have if the state didn't land the Tesla Motors battery factory and another out-of-state business, according to recent projections.

State demographer Jeff Hardcastle created a draft of his predictions on Sept. 1, but his numbers got shuffled once it was announced that Tesla's gigafactory was coming to town.

"The potential impacts on the communities of northern Nevada in terms of economic and population changes will be significant," Hardcastle wrote about Tesla's move, according to the Associated Press.

An Amazon.com warehouse's move from Lyon County to Washoe County and drone maker Ashima Devices' move from California to Washoe County also shook up numbers.

Overall, Nevada is expected to add at least 528,000 people over the next two decades, for a population of 3.3 million.

That's led by an estimated 328,000-person increase in Clark County and an estimated 147,000-person bump in Washoe County, according to the Associated Press.

Hardcastle's revised predictions for 2032 show Washoe County's population will be 18,000 people over what it would have been if Tesla chose another spot. Predictions were updated in part because many workers at the Tesla factory are expected to live in the Reno area and commute to the site of the factory, rural Storey County.

Predictions include a gain of more than 9,000 in Lyon County, 5,000 in Carson City, and 700 in Storey County.

Clark County is projected to see a Tesla-related population bump of about 1,600 people in the next two decades.

Washoe County is organizing an economic development planning committee that's set to convene later this month in order to prepare for the growth, county Manager John Slaughter said, according to AP.

Findings will decide how many schools, homes, police officers, and public workers will be needed in the county.

"There really is an excitement in the region," Slaughter said. "Certainly it's going to present challenges, but they're challenges that we can deal with."

Despite the Tesla buzz, Hardcastle noted that tourism remains the biggest factory in Nevada's economy, and likely will be for the next two decades.

"There's been a huge investment over time in the tourism and gaming side," he said. "It's such an established industry, that even as we try to diversify, it's such a large base for us."

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