Unlike in other states, Nevada Republicans will hold both a primary and a caucus in 2024. Nikki Haley is contesting the primary, while Donald Trump is running in the caucus, which is the only contest in which delegates will be awarded this year. Nonetheless, the following are some key facts about Nevadans based on data collected by PRRI in 2022:
- The median age of adults in Nevada is 51, higher than the median age for all Americans (48).
- Around one-third of Nevadans have a high school diploma or less education (34%) and just over 4 in 10 have completed some college (42%). In comparison, only 15% of Nevadans have a college degree and fewer than 1 in 10 have a post-graduate degree (9%).
- Slightly more than half of Nevadans identify as white (52%). Two in ten Nevadans identify as Hispanic (21%) and 1 in 10 identify as Black (11%) or Asian American or Pacific Islander (10%). Just 3% of Nevadans identify as Native American and 2% identify as multiracial.
- Approximately 4 in 10 Nevadans identify as independent (38%) and one-third identify as Democrats (33%). Two in ten Nevadans (20%) identify as Republicans.
- Thirty-eight percent of Nevadans identify as ideologically moderate and one-third identify as conservative (33%). One-quarter of Nevadans identify as liberal (25%).
Based on the 2022 PRRI Census of American Religion, Nevada’s distribution of religious affiliation compared with the rest of the country is:
Nevada’s Religious Diversity and Religious Affiliation at the County-Level
Religious Diversity in Nevada
In addition to 2022 statewide data, the 2020 PRRI Census of American Religion provides reliable county-level religious affiliation data, including our Index of Religious Diversity, which measures variations in the concentration of global religious populations. The index is calculated so that a score of 1 signifies complete diversity — every religious group is of equal size — and a score of 0 indicates a complete lack of diversity and one religious group comprises the entire population of a given county.
Nationally, the average religious diversity score by county is 0.625. The average religious diversity index score for the state of Nevada is 0.796.
Ranked by most religiously diverse to least, Nevada’s counties are as follows:
| Clark County (0.842) Mineral County (0.833) Carson City (0.83) Elko County (0.818) Storey County (0.817) Lander County (0.807) White Pine County (0.806) Douglas County (0.806) Washoe County (0.805) |
Churchill County (0.804) Humboldt County (0.803) Nye County (0.802) Lyon County (0.799) Pershing County (0.762) Esmeralda County (0.748) Lincoln County (0.726) Eureka County (0.719) |
White Christians in Nevada
As the 2022 PRRI Census of American Religion shows, around one-third of Nevadans (30%) are white Christians; this is largely unchanged from 2020, when 34% of Nevadans identified as white and Christian, which combines white evangelical Protestants, white mainline or non-evangelical Protestants, and white Catholics.
The top counties in Nevada with the highest concentrations of white Christians are:
1. Lander County (62%)
2. Eureka County (62%)
3. Lincoln County (61%)
4. Storey County (59%)
5. Nye County (59%)
White Evangelical Protestants in Nevada
White evangelical Protestants make up 14% of the U.S. population as of 2022. See the concentration of white evangelical Protestants in Nevada by county:
The top five counties in Nevada with the highest concentrations of white evangelical Protestants are:
1. Eureka County (29%)
2. Esmeralda County (24%)
3. Lincoln County (23%)
4. Pershing County (23%)
5. Nye County (21%)
White Mainline/Non-evangelical Protestants in Nevada
White mainline/non-evangelical Protestants make up 14% of the U.S. population as of 2022. See the concentration of white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants in Nevada by county:
The top counties in Nevada with the highest concentrations of white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants are:
1. Lincoln County (25%)
2. Douglas County (24%)
3. Eureka County (22%)
4. Esmeralda County (22%)
5. Storey County (22%)
White Catholics in Nevada
In Nevada, the counties with the highest concentrations of white Catholics are:
1. Lander County (33%)
2. Elko County (17%)
3. Storey County (16%)
4. Carson City (14%)
5. Douglas County (14%)
6. Nye County (14%)
Non-white Christians and Latter-Day Saints in Nevada
Compared with other states, Nevada is more racially diverse, with more Hispanic Christians residing there than many other states. Nevada also has a relatively high percentage of Mormons or Latter-Day Saints compared with other states.
Hispanic Catholics in Nevada
The top counties in Nevada with the highest concentrations of Hispanic Catholics are:
1. Clark County (11%)
2. Washoe County (10%)
3. Carson City (9%)
4. Elko County (8%)
Hispanic Protestants in Nevada
The top counties in Nevada with the highest concentrations of Hispanic Protestants are:
1. Clark County (5%)
2. Elko County (3%)
3. Washoe County (3%)
Latter-Day Saints in Nevada
The top counties in Nevada with the highest concentrations of Latter-day Saints are:
1. Elko County (9%)
2. Churchill County (9%)
3. Humboldt County (8%)
4. White Pine County (8%)
5. Pershing County (7%)
Religiously Unaffiliated Nevadans
Religiously unaffiliated Americans make up 27% of the U.S. population as of 2022. See the concentration of religiously unaffiliated Nevadans by county:
In Nevada, the top counties with the highest concentrations of religiously unaffiliated Americans are:
1. Pershing County (38%)
2. Washoe County (38%)
3. Humboldt County (35%)
4. White Pine County (34%)
5. Mineral County (34%)