The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Douglas County is a county of Nevada with 49,623 residents. Its economy produced $4,048 million in 2024 (ranked #4 of 17 counties) and had 20,644 jobs with an average annual pay of $69,271 (#8 for pay). The unemployment rate was 3.7% in 2026M09. It is part of the Gardnerville Ranchos, NV-CA micropolitan area (central county).
Douglas County produced about $4,048 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 1.5% of the combined output of the 17 counties of Nevada that BEA reports (about 1.6% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 4th of 17 on that measure. Per resident that is $81,579, 3% below the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $84,472. In current dollars output grew 9.3% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 20,644 jobs located in Douglas County on average in 2024, spread over 2,060 employer sites (about 10 jobs per site). That is 0.42 jobs for every resident, close to the 0.42 of the typical county in Nevada, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $69,271, 4% above the average of all counties in the state ($69,271 against $66,313). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 3.9% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are accommodation and food services (23.1% of private jobs, $39,917 a year on average), manufacturing (13.1% of private jobs, $80,632 a year on average), retail trade (12.7% of private jobs, $37,242 a year on average). Together they hold 48.8% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $186,649 a year, followed by manufacturing ($80,632). The county is specialised in several industries: arts, entertainment, recreation (3.7 times the US share, 1,275 jobs); accommodation and food services (2.2 times the US share, 4,109 jobs); construction (1.6 times the US share, 1,723 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: accommodation and food services ($39,917), retail trade ($37,242), arts, entertainment, recreation ($48,098). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Douglas County was 3.7%, 18% below the average of the state's counties (3.7% against 4.5%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 24,177. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 3.4% (2026M08) to 4.6% (2026M01); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $90,754 (ACS 2020–2024), 16% above the state median ($90,754 against $78,260). The guide covers 10 cities with this as the main county: Gardnerville Ranchos, Johnson Lane, Indian Hills, Gardnerville, Minden, Kingsbury, Ruhenstroth, Topaz Ranch Estates. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,241 in Gardnerville to $1,819 in Minden, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Douglas County in output are Washoe County, Carson City, Elko County, Storey County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 17 counties of Nevada ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 49,623 | 7 of 17 |
| GDP 2024 | $4,048 million | 4 of 17 |
| GDP per resident | $81,579 | 10 of 17 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 20,644 | 5 of 17 |
| Average annual pay | $69,271 | 8 of 17 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +3.9% | 1 of 17 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 3.7% | 6 of 17 |
| Median household income | $90,754 | 2 of 17 |
Federal jobs in Nevada (347) →All cities of NevadaState guide: Nevada
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Douglas County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardnerville Ranchos | 12,114 | $87,785 | $1,533 | $486,000 | 23.5% |
| Johnson Lane | 6,467 | $121,458 | $1,475 | $764,100 | 28.1% |
| Indian Hills | 5,527 | $78,278 | $1,496 | $483,800 | 26.0% |
| Gardnerville | 5,486 | $62,267 | $1,241 | $487,300 | 27.0% |
| Minden | 3,707 | $99,904 | $1,819 | $586,000 | 36.8% |
| Kingsbury | 2,209 | $96,250 | $1,769 | $1,077,200 | 53.4% |
| Ruhenstroth | 1,682 | $105,281 | n/a | $670,200 | 29.8% |
| Topaz Ranch Estates | 1,621 | $57,574 | $1,427 | $289,300 | 11.5% |
| Genoa | 1,284 | $121,981 | n/a | $1,003,200 | 50.2% |
| East Valley | 1,283 | $125,417 | n/a | $874,300 | 38.2% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 4,109 | 23.1% | $39,917 | 2.19 |
| Manufacturing | 2,328 | 13.1% | $80,632 | 1.37 |
| Retail trade | 2,264 | 12.7% | $37,242 | 1.10 |
| Construction | 1,723 | 9.7% | $72,807 | 1.59 |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,702 | 9.6% | $64,065 | 0.58 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 1,275 | 7.2% | $48,098 | 3.67 |
| Professional and technical services | 987 | 5.5% | $186,649 | 0.69 |
| Administrative and waste services | 937 | 5.3% | $61,940 | 0.77 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 539 | 3.0% | $75,914 | 0.62 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 451 | 2.5% | $47,291 | 0.73 |
| Finance and insurance | 402 | 2.3% | $120,509 | 0.48 |
| Real estate and rental | 291 | 1.6% | $86,047 | 0.91 |
| Management of companies | 261 | 1.5% | $250,007 | 0.75 |
| Wholesale trade | 252 | 1.4% | $130,784 | 0.31 |
| Information | 167 | 0.9% | $159,743 | 0.43 |
| Educational services | 102 | 0.6% | $16,686 | 0.24 |
| Utilities | 30 | 0.2% | $55,908 | 0.38 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 24,177 |
| Employed residents | 23,291 |
| Unemployed residents | 886 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.7% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 20,644 |
| Employer sites | 2,060 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clark County | 2,329,548 | $195,936 million | $84,109 | 1,124,772 | $64,985 | 4.8% |
| Washoe County | 497,200 | $43,717 million | $87,927 | 240,544 | $69,452 | 3.5% |
| Lyon County | 61,680 | $2,368 million | $38,390 | 13,744 | $58,903 | 3.9% |
| Carson City | 58,384 | $5,376 million | $92,087 | 31,895 | $69,100 | 3.5% |
| Nye County | 54,344 | $2,670 million | $49,133 | 13,764 | $68,204 | 6.0% |
| Elko County | 54,047 | $3,995 million | $73,912 | 22,205 | $64,165 | 3.0% |
| Douglas County | 49,623 | $4,048 million | $81,579 | 20,644 | $69,271 | 3.7% |
| Churchill County | 25,805 | $1,639 million | $63,531 | 8,837 | $60,811 | 4.0% |
| Humboldt County | 17,289 | $1,815 million | $104,992 | 7,812 | $72,366 | 3.0% |
| White Pine County | 8,735 | $1,332 million | $152,463 | 4,323 | $76,315 | 3.8% |
| Pershing County | 6,487 | $592 million | $91,295 | 1,972 | $82,386 | 3.6% |
| Lander County | 5,770 | $921 million | $159,537 | 3,626 | $96,950 | 3.7% |
| Mineral County | 4,542 | $233 million | $51,223 | 1,166 | $55,205 | 7.2% |
| Lincoln County | 4,405 | $254 million | $57,764 | 1,350 | $49,874 | 3.9% |
| Storey County | 4,140 | $2,769 million | $668,900 | 19,320 | $83,629 | 5.1% |
| Eureka County | 1,585 | $1,297 million | $818,580 | 4,450 | $117,686 | 4.3% |
| Esmeralda County | 1,028 | $47 million | $45,648 | 284 | $61,632 | 5.7% |
49,623 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$4,048 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
3.7% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
20,644 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $69,271 (BLS QCEW).