The manufacturing industry in Southern Nevada has experienced significant growth in recent years amid a broader manufacturing resurgence across the United States.
The manufacturing sector's growth in Southern Nevada has been among the strongest in the nation. Over the past year, Southern Nevada ranked first in manufacturing job growth among the 30 largest metro areas with a 6.6 percent year-over-year growth rate. That put the total manufacturing workforce at 32,200, up from 30,200 a year ago. No other top 30 metro grew more than 3.6 percent during that time. Among southwestern metros that also includes smaller metro areas, Southern Nevada saw the second-highest growth rate behind only Albuquerque at 9 percent. Manufacturing now accounts for 2.8 percent of Southern Nevada's workforce, up from 2.5 percent five years ago. The expansion of the manufacturing industry has helped diversify the regional economy to better withstand economic fluctuations that affect its core tourism industry.
Nationally, the manufacturing industry is projected to add more than 100,000 jobs over the next 10 years, and Southern Nevada is positioned to continue contributing to that growth. The region’s proximity to major cities in California and Arizona, provides access to more than 64 million consumers within only one trucking day. This geographic advantage makes the region an attractive location for businesses seeking to optimize their supply chains and reduce costs.
In recent years, Southern Nevada’s location and business environment have attracted notable manufacturing businesses for relocation and expansion. For example, Wilen Group added a paper manufacturing facility in downtown Las Vegas in 2019 and expanded it in 2022 to employ 60 workers.
The development of industrial parks across Southern Nevada has helped accommodate the influx of manufacturing businesses. Through the first three months of the year, five million-square-feet of industrial space was completed in Southern Nevada, already surpassing last year’s total. Total industrial space inventory in the region is 163.8 million-square-feet, with 14.9 million-square-feet under construction.
Southern Nevada’s manufacturing sector has long been a target of the regional economic development strategy, and those efforts appear to be paying off as the sector has been one of the fastest growing in the nation. The market’s industrial real estate development pipeline along with workforce training programs at institutions such as the College of Southern Nevada, has the region well-positioned to maintain that momentum into the future.