Lyon state's fastest growing county

Lyon County led the charge in putting Nevada at more than 2 million residents according to figures released by the State Demographer's Office on Wednesday.

Lyon is home to 37,014 people, an 8.4 percent increase over last year, said Demographer Jeff Hardcastle.

State figures show that Lyon County far outstripped neighbors Carson City and Douglas County.

This is Hardcastle's first set of figures since he became the state's official people counter in January.

Each year, the state issues official population numbers to be used to determine the division of sales and highway dollars.

"The growth of Lyon County illustrates how growth is occurring in many areas of the state," he said. "In Fernley, they have new employment coming in, and people commuting to other localities."

He said the flattening out of Douglas County's population figures may show that workers are seeking housing elsewhere.

"It does look as if something has changed there," he said. "Go back six or eight years and there has definitely been a shift."

Hardcastle warned that the figures are just estimates, which may reflect fluctuations that wouldn't show up in a longer-term study.

"Sometimes we're looking at the horse race rather than the whole story," he said. "It's important to look at the long-term over five years for overall growth."

Hardcastle said he is looking forward to the release of U.S. Census figures in March.

"I think the census gives us an opportunity to sit back and see how the whole process works, take a look at the data and improve how I do my job," he said. "We may be within 1 or 2 percent, but that doesn't mean one of us is right and the other is wrong.

Henderson continues to lead as Nevada's fastest growing city.

The city is home to 198,691 people, thanks to a 12.2 percent jump in population. Las Vegas, Nevada's largest city, posted 4 percent growth with 483,448 residents.