NV · Clark County · 641,903 (2020) · 26th-largest US city · Pacific time
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas lies in a broad desert valley in the southern tip of Nevada, 25 miles from the Colorado River and Hoover Dam. It is the largest city in Nevada and the twenty-sixth in the United States.
- State
- Nevada
- County
- Clark County
- Population (2020)
- 641,903
- Rank
- 26th in the US
- Coordinates
- 36.17°N, 115.14°W
- Time zone
- Pacific
- Metro area
- about 2.3 million
- State capital
- No – Carson City
Where Las Vegas is
Las Vegas is at 36.17°N, 115.14°W in Clark County, of which it is the county seat. The city proper covers about 140 square miles at roughly 2,000 feet above sea level in the Las Vegas Valley, a basin of the Mojave Desert enclosed by the Spring Mountains (Mount Charleston, 11,916 ft) to the west, the Sheep Range to the north and the Black Mountains to the east. Most of what visitors know as Las Vegas — the Strip, the airport — is outside the city limits in the unincorporated town of Paradise. Arizona is 25 miles southeast across the Colorado River at Hoover Dam; California is 40 miles southwest. Carson City, the state capital, is 430 miles northwest.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 641,903 residents in the city of Las Vegas, ranking it 26th in the US. Henderson (317,000) and North Las Vegas (262,000), both adjoining, are the state's second- and third-largest cities, while Reno is fourth. The Las Vegas–Henderson–Paradise metropolitan area is the same as Clark County and holds about 2.3 million people — nearly three-quarters of all Nevadans — making it the 29th-largest metro in the country. Only about 28 percent of the metro population lives inside the city of Las Vegas.
Geography
- Mojave Desert — Las Vegas is the largest city in the Mojave; rainfall averages about 4 inches a year, the lowest of any large US city. See US deserts.
- Colorado River and Lake Mead — the river, dammed at Hoover Dam in 1936, supplies about 90 percent of the valley's water; Lake Mead's surface has dropped sharply since 2000. See the Colorado River map.
- Las Vegas Wash — the valley's only natural drainage, carrying runoff and treated wastewater east to Lake Mead; the springs that gave the city its name ("the meadows") dried up in the 1960s.
- Red Rock Canyon — sandstone escarpment of the Spring Mountains 15 miles west of downtown.
Nearest large cities
Las Vegas is four hours from Los Angeles on Interstate 15 and about five from Phoenix. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | CA | 270 | SW |
| Phoenix | AZ | 300 | SE |
| San Diego | CA | 330 | SW |
| Salt Lake City | UT | 420 | NE |
| Fresno | CA | 400 | W |
Is Las Vegas the state capital?
No. Nevada's capital is Carson City, a town of about 58,000 near Lake Tahoe, 430 miles to the northwest; it was chosen at statehood in 1864, when the state's population was concentrated in the Comstock silver district and Las Vegas did not yet exist as a town. Las Vegas is the seat of Clark County and the largest city in the state by a wide margin. Nevada is on Pacific time, so Las Vegas clocks match Los Angeles, not Phoenix.
Related maps
- Nevada map — the state with its 17 counties.
- Carson City — the state capital, 430 miles away.
- US cities map.
- Mojave Desert, Colorado River and Grand Canyon maps.
- Nearby: Los Angeles, Phoenix, Arizona, Utah.
- Mountain division · Pacific Time Zone.