How many died in Las Vegas’ heat during summer 2025? A clearer picture emerges
At least 191 people have died from causes related to Southern Nevada’s heat this year, the Clark County coroner’s office said on Monday, the last day of summer.
It’s a significant jump in heat-related deaths from the last update on Aug. 21, when the death toll was 114. That’s nearly a 68 percent increase, though the numbers still haven’t reached the 2024 record of 527.
There’s no set schedule to report heat deaths, and circumstances such as staffing can affect investigation timelines year-to-year, but the most comparable update from 2024 came on Sept. 26, when the heat death toll had risen to 342.
The coroner’s office widened its umbrella for determining when heat is a factor in someone’s death in 2021, and temperatures above 95 degrees are generally when investigators will consider heat illness.
Monday’s number reflects the more moderate summer of 2025, when 104 days were above the coroner’s temperature threshold. Last year, considered by meteorologists to have brought the hottest summer since weather data collection began in the 1930s, had 133 days when temperatures exceeded the heat death threshold.
Regionally, a team of three Desert Research Institute researchers at the Nevada Heat Lab work with local governments, agencies and nonprofits to fine-tune policies and solicit adaptation measures, such as trees, shade over bus stops and more awareness for the valley’s cooling stations.
Drugs, heat remain deadly combo
Of the 191 cases identified as heat-related, the coroner’s office released information about 169. Details surrounding the other 22 will become available following the notification of victim families.
Drug use persists as a common theme in heat-related death, as the body’s ability to cool itself sharply declines with drug use. Other risk factors include homelessness and old age, and the danger can compound when any of those three factors combine.
Data the coroner’s office routinely releases to the press doesn’t separate victims out by housing status, but age and drug use are almost always documented.
Continuing a trend, the victims skew older, with a median age of 60. The oldest to die so far was 93. The 17 youngest victims — ranging in age from 18 to 34 — all had been under the influence of drugs, according to the coroner’s office.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.