Census sees traditional households declining in Nevada

Economically ravaged Nevada might be a bit less attractive to traditional families than in years past, according to U.S. Census figures released Wednesday.

The survey found only 46 percent of Nevada households consisted of married couples last year, while the number of people living alone grew by more than 70,000 to 26 percent of all households.

In contrast, married-couple families represented half of the state's total households in 2000. Roughly 25 percent of households then consisted of people living alone.

Overall, households comprised of relatives dropped from 66 percent in 2000 to 65 percent in 2010. Nonfamily households, meanwhile, grew by nearly 100,000, up to 35 percent from 34 percent in 2000.

Of the families that lived together, fewer reflected the traditional household of a husband, wife and child.

Married couples with children under the age of 18 climbed by 31,076 households from 2000 to 2010, but their overall share of the population declined from 22 percent to 20 percent.

Single mothers with young children grew by 20,000 in the previous decade.

It's unclear what is driving the shift. Census figures merely represent a snapshot of American life and do not include cause and effect data.

Traditional households have been in recent decline across the nation as Americans increasingly delay or shun marriage, flee the nest earlier and embrace the single life.

But Nevada, with its casinos, showgirls and brothels, has rarely matched national trends.

In 2000, married-couple families represented 52 percent of the households in the United States, but only half in Nevada.

The Census Bureau has not released national household figures for 2010.

"Until we see that," said state demographer Jeff Hardcastle, "it's hard to know how much of it is a U.S. trend or just Nevada's situation."

Nevada's economic woes could be at play. The state tops the nation in bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment. Nevada was the fastest growing state in the previous decade, its construction and tourism boom attracting thousands of would-be workers and new residents from neighboring states.

But an economic bust that started in 2007 and has yet to fade, along with declining public school enrollment across the state, suggests the lure of Nevada might have waned in recent years.

Nevadans grappling with the troubled economy may also be wary of the financial responsibilities associated with having children or getting married, said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

"The average person who is in construction is probably a family-type person, blue collar, salt of the earth," Goodman said. "And I think many of them left."