Housing Study Says Churchill Has Significant Shortages

Eugenia Lamore, president of EKAY Economic Consultants, hired this spring by Churchill County to update the Housing Needs Assessment, presented findings last week during the county commission meeting, saying bluntly, “You need housing.”  

According to Lamore, who partnered with the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada on the update, Churchill County grew by 775 people from 2021 to 2024 and, using historical growth patterns, is on tap to conservatively grow by 561 people from 2024 to 2028. While the number of children in the community declined, the number of family households grew, indicating an increase in the number of adults living together in roommate situations, which Lamore said could explain the housing imbalance. 

She also explained that there has been significant income growth, with personal income increasing 35% and the Consumer Price Index increasing 16.5%. Churchill is clearly outpacing inflation. 

The increase in population sees over 60% of the influx in new people coming from outside the state, “and they are younger than your existing population, and their income is higher, driving up your income,” Lamore said. 

Wages have increased in Churchill County since 2019, seeing a 20% growth, again outpacing inflation, with the CPI rising 19%, according to Lamore, with the average salary in 2023 at $1,100 per week. The top industries are retail, healthcare, and public administration.

Average employment growth is projected to be 200 new jobs, but that does not consider the 620 new jobs projected at Naval Air Station Fallon. Lamore reported that Bruce Breslow, the consultant running the Churchill Fallon Economic Development efforts, projects anywhere from 218 to 2,600 new jobs if the projects he is working to bring to the community materialize.

The total projected new jobs in Churchill County by 2028 runs from a conservative estimate of 1,100 based on historical growth data to 3,500 based on ongoing economic development efforts. 

Lamore said the community has nearly 11,000 housing units, averaging their build dates in 1982. She said 37% of the housing stock was built between 1990 and 2009. No Single-Family Attached products (condo or apartment units) have been built since 2010, and only four multi-family units have been built since 2010. 

Single-family detached houses comprise 62% of the housing product, with 3% of the inventory being multi-family units. 

During 2012, the vacancy rate for available housing was 6%, and in 2022, that availability had dropped to 3%. “There just is not much on the market,” Lamore said. In May of 2024, when the data was being gathered, there were 38 active listings, four of which were manufactured housing. There were 29 rentals available. 

This demand has resulted in a growth in the prices for all residential products. In 2024, the county's median sales price for new single-family homes was $386,950, compared to $307,929 in 2021. That is a 26% increase over three years since the report was initially presented in 2021. 

Asking rental rates for single-family homes declined from $1,850 in 2021 to $1,700 per month in 2024, with the report explaining that the homes available for rent in 2024 were smaller than in 2021. On a per-square-foot basis, the asking rental rates increased from $1.10 to $1.31, an increase of 20%. The same detail plagued the multifamily products, with the per-square-foot increase going from $1.23 in 2021 to $1.43 in 2024. 

In answer to the apparent demand for housing, Lamore said there are currently 6,200 units of housing proposed in Churchill County and in various stages of development, 910 of which are multi-family or apartments and 300 single-family attached.

The update reports that of the proposed housing units, 395 have recorded final maps, all single-family detached units. Three single-family attached projects have been approved in the County, with 317 units, of which 87 units have been issued final maps. A total of 910 multifamily apartment units are planned, with 852 units in two developments recently approved by the commission.

“You need 152 – 600 units a year to keep up with the population growth,” Lamore said. “Currently, you’re building 105 per year which is a significant gap in construction to demand.”