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.
Washoe County is a county of Nevada with 497,200 residents. Its economy produced $43,717 million in 2024 (ranked #2 of 17 counties) and had 240,544 jobs with an average annual pay of $69,452 (#7 for pay). The unemployment rate was 3.5% in 2026M09. It is part of the Reno, NV metropolitan area (central county).
Washoe County produced about $43,717 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 16.3% of the combined output of the 17 counties of Nevada that BEA reports (about 15.6% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 2nd of 17 on that measure. Per resident that is $87,927, 4% above the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $84,472. In current dollars output grew 5.8% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 240,544 jobs located in Washoe County on average in 2024, spread over 16,950 employer sites (about 14 jobs per site). That is 0.48 jobs for every resident, above 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 $69,452, 5% above the average of all counties in the state ($69,452 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 0.8% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are accommodation and food services (14.8% of private jobs, $34,045 a year on average), health care and social assistance (13.2% of private jobs, $71,163 a year on average), retail trade (11.3% of private jobs, $43,185 a year on average). Together they hold 39.3% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $104,998 a year, followed by wholesale trade ($86,392). The county is specialised in several industries: transportation and warehousing (1.9 times the US share, 19,580 jobs); construction (1.7 times the US share, 21,822 jobs); arts, entertainment, recreation (1.6 times the US share, 6,568 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 ($34,045), retail trade ($43,185). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Washoe County was 3.5%, 23% below the average of the state's counties (3.5% against 4.5%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 269,799. 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 $88,096 (ACS 2020–2024), 13% above the state median ($88,096 against $78,260). The guide covers 8 cities with this as the main county: Reno, Sparks, Sun Valley, Spanish Springs, Cold Springs, Incline Village, Lemmon Valley, Washoe Valley. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,214 in Sun Valley to $2,185 in Cold Springs, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Washoe County in output are Clark County, Carson City, Douglas County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 17 counties of Nevada ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 497,200 | 2 of 17 |
| GDP 2024 | $43,717 million | 2 of 17 |
| GDP per resident | $87,927 | 8 of 17 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 240,544 | 2 of 17 |
| Average annual pay | $69,452 | 7 of 17 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +0.8% | 8 of 17 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 3.5% | 3 of 17 |
| Median household income | $88,096 | 4 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 Washoe County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reno | 273,212 | $80,760 | $1,556 | $548,300 | 36.8% |
| Sparks | 110,024 | $89,056 | $1,716 | $483,800 | 27.6% |
| Sun Valley | 22,228 | $77,446 | $1,214 | $349,100 | 10.8% |
| Spanish Springs | 17,980 | $127,658 | $1,963 | $623,900 | 30.1% |
| Cold Springs | 11,321 | $93,732 | $2,185 | $433,300 | 18.2% |
| Incline Village | 9,272 | $167,069 | $1,961 | $1,454,600 | 65.7% |
| Lemmon Valley | 4,412 | $76,029 | n/a | $384,000 | 18.6% |
| Washoe Valley | 3,315 | $122,614 | $1,410 | $609,700 | 22.8% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 31,333 | 14.8% | $34,045 | 1.43 |
| Health care and social assistance | 27,994 | 13.2% | $71,163 | 0.81 |
| Retail trade | 23,832 | 11.3% | $43,185 | 0.99 |
| Construction | 21,822 | 10.3% | $78,529 | 1.73 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 19,580 | 9.3% | $62,136 | 1.92 |
| Administrative and waste services | 15,170 | 7.2% | $49,433 | 1.07 |
| Manufacturing | 13,906 | 6.6% | $75,272 | 0.70 |
| Professional and technical services | 13,302 | 6.3% | $104,998 | 0.79 |
| Wholesale trade | 9,492 | 4.5% | $86,392 | 1.00 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 6,733 | 3.2% | $54,482 | 0.93 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 6,568 | 3.1% | $35,802 | 1.62 |
| Finance and insurance | 5,708 | 2.7% | $148,798 | 0.58 |
| Real estate and rental | 4,675 | 2.2% | $68,371 | 1.25 |
| Management of companies | 4,251 | 2.0% | $203,487 | 1.05 |
| Information | 3,559 | 1.7% | $128,587 | 0.79 |
| Educational services | 2,225 | 1.1% | $48,006 | 0.45 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 724 | 0.3% | $64,814 | 0.37 |
| Utilities | 521 | 0.2% | $146,572 | 0.57 |
| Mining, oil and gas | 275 | 0.1% | $113,199 | 0.30 |
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 | 269,799 |
| Employed residents | 260,357 |
| Unemployed residents | 9,442 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.5% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 240,544 |
| Employer sites | 16,950 |
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% |
497,200 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$43,717 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
3.5% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
240,544 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $69,452 (BLS QCEW).