Carson City finishes 14th of 22 in NerdWallet job data survey

About two-thirds of Nevada communities in a NerdWallet employment recovery rating did better than Carson City, with roughly a third trailing the state’s capital.

The consumer-friendly financial website ranked Carson City No. 14 out of the 22 communities it listed, calling the top 10 “on the rise” in a state showing solid employment recovery signs of late. The survey listed Whitney, near Las Vegas, as first and Las Vegas itself as tenth based on three factors: working age population growth, employment growth, and median income growth for the years 2009-12. Each category counted equally in the NerdWallet methodology.

The website said the state’s recovery, in part, led to the NerdWallet look at individual communities or areas with those listed in the rankings having a minimum population of at least 10,000. It said most on the list are census designated areas, not cities, and seven of the top 10 were close to Las Vegas.

“After leading the nation in unemployment just a few years ago, Nevada now is a U.S. leader in new jobs,’ said an analysis accompanying the data. “Nevada saw job growth of 3.4 percent in January, according to year-over-year data.”

The rankings indicated Carson City had 3.5 percent growth in working age population and 6.4 percent median income growth during the 2009-12 period checked, but the drag was negative employment growth. It was down 9.2 percent.

By contrast, Whitney’s working age population growth was 43.2 percent and median income growth was 8.8 percent, while employment growth came in at negative 4.8 percent. No. 10 Las Vegas grew 8.2 percent in working age population and 5.0 percent in median income growth, but regisered negative employment growth that dropped 6.7 percent.

Sun Valley just north of Reno trailed the pack, coming in No. 22 with negative percentages in all three categories. Sun Valley’s working age population growth during the period was negative 2.5 percent, while employment growth dropped 9.1 percent, while the Reno suburb’s median income growth was down 3.8 percent.