City safety & data profile
ElkoNV
Elko, NV is a 20K-resident city in Elko County with a median household income of $79,036.
Elko County, Nevada. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Elko, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Elko has a population larger than 45% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $309,100, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.
- 20K
- Population (place)
- Bottom 46%
- By size
- $79,036
- Median income (place)
- $309,100
- Median home (place)
- 13.8%
- Poverty rate (place)
The read on Elko
Elko posts a median household income higher than 48% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Elko area.
- Bottom 49%
- by median income, US cities
- 1
- hospital in & near Elko
Composite score · Elko, NV
33/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024
A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Curious how Elko stacks up nationwide? See the full tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).
Where Elko income ranks nationally
Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)
$79,036 Bottom 48% higher than 48% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles
Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year
Biggest cities by headcount in NV
Population among 22 NV places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.
- Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
641,903 residents
- Henderson
Henderson, NV
285,667 residents
- Reno
Reno, NV
264,165 residents
- North Las Vegas 234,807
North Las Vegas, NV
234,807 residents
- Paradise 223,167
Paradise, NV
223,167 residents
- Sunrise Manor 189,372
Sunrise Manor, NV
189,372 residents
- Spring Valley 178,395
Spring Valley, NV
178,395 residents
- Enterprise 108,481
Enterprise, NV
108,481 residents
- Sparks 96,094
Sparks, NV
96,094 residents
- Carson City 58,639
Carson City, NV
58,639 residents
What this shows Las Vegas tops this pool by population; the income lead belongs to Spanish Springs instead.
Highest median incomes in NV
Median household income across 22 tracked NV places. Hover a bar for its population rank.
- Spanish Springs
Spanish Springs, NV
$127,658 median
- Summerlin South
Summerlin South, NV
$117,035 median
- Spring Creek
Spring Creek, NV
$105,154 median
- Enterprise
Enterprise, NV
$98,462 median
- Henderson
Henderson, NV
$90,138 median
- Fernley
Fernley, NV
$89,517 median
- Sparks
Sparks, NV
$89,056 median
- Gardnerville Ranchos
Gardnerville Ranchos, NV
$87,785 median
- Reno
Reno, NV
$80,760 median
- North Las Vegas
North Las Vegas, NV
$79,542 median
What this shows Income honors go to Spanish Springs here -- by headcount, that title belongs to Las Vegas.
The quick read
Reading Elko, NV beyond the headline numbers
Elko sits inside Elko County, Nevada, at roughly 40.83°N, -115.76°W. Population 20,279, $79,036 median household income. Median home value $309,100, median rent $1,267. Poverty rate 13.8%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.
1 hospital in/around Elko, 3/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER. Climate: 47.8°F annual average, 10.1" precipitation.
11.2% of Elko workers commute by public transit, a larger share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.
Among the CDC measures on this page, binge drinking departs furthest from its peer median: 18.4% in Elko, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.
Only 3% of Elko workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.
Elko's median age is 33.2 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.
17.2% of Elko adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.
Poverty in Elko, NV stands at 13.8%, above the midpoint of reporting cities. A median income can look comfortable while a share this size sits well beneath it, which is why the two figures belong together.
Median rent in Elko, NV runs $1,267/month, below the midpoint for reporting cities.
Unemployment in Elko sits at 5.2%, above the midpoint of reporting cities.
The median home in Elko costs roughly 3.9 times median household income, below the midpoint for reporting cities, so ownership remains reachable on a typical local wage.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Elko from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.
Looking Back a Decade 2013–2024
County-level trend (Elko County): Elko's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.
Economics
The clearest outlier in Elko's numbers is median rent: $1,267/mo, which is 18% below what's typical across the tracked-city set. A second figure worth noting: median household income at $79,036, 12% below the tracked-city average.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median Rent | |
| Poverty Rate | 13.8% +11% vs avg |
| Unemployment | 5.2% |
| Bachelor's Degree+ | 17.2% |
| Work From Home | 3% |
| Public Transit | 11.2% |
By the Numbers
Health Snapshot 15 measures
Health Indicators
Preventive Care
Other Measures
Hospitals 1 total
CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.
Climate
NOAA 1991-2020 NormalsFlood Insurance Claims History
FEMA NFIP, county-levelSince 2016, NFIP has paid out $114K across 16 flood insurance claims filed in Elko County.
Most claims in this county are not tied to a single named storm or hurricane in the NFIP record.
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.
What alerts and safety updates affect Elko?
No area-tagged alerts are on record for Elko right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.
City alert dispatch desk
Sheet NV-ELKO · Elko
Elko: 3 tagged alerts; lead category NWS weather alert.
- VOL-TRACE 3 on record
- WX-LED 100% weather
- DESK-MIX NOAA
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Los Angeles
Tagged alert mix: Elko
Published notices carrying this city slug or location tag
- Weather Alerts
Weather Alerts
3
What this shows 3 tagged notices on record for Elko.
Nearest tagged-volume peer: Los Angeles, CA (3 tagged · Δ0)
Counts reflect published articles tagged to Elko; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Nevada state hubs · Methodology
Cities with a similar tagged alert volume 4
Nearest published-notice counts on Areazine (3 tagged here), a feed-density peer set, not an ACS demographic match.
Related reading
Questions & Answers 8
What is the population of Elko, NV? ▼
What is the median household income in Elko? ▼
What is the median home value in Elko? ▼
What are the top health concerns in Elko? ▼
How many hospitals are in Elko? ▼
What is the median age in Elko? ▼
What is the climate like in Elko? ▼
What is the flood claim history for Elko? ▼
Comparable cities by poverty or income, nationwide 8
Two ACS-derived peer sets for Elko, both outside Nevada so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.
Similar poverty rate
Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside NV (13.8% here).
Similar median income
Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside NV ($79,036 here).
Compare Elko with another city
Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.
Nearby Places 8
Turning this into a research checklist
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Elko area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
- Compare Elko against Nevada peers on any ranking lens. Explore Nevada
Place-level figures for population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) come from U.S. Census ACS; health data is CDC PLACES; hospital counts cover facilities in and around the city. Any county-level trend is labeled as such.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Elko County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.