Long called “cow counties,” the idea of rural Nevada conjures cowboys on horseback, desert mining operations, stretches of scenic sagebrush landscape, ghost towns, destination towns, historical mining towns and historical mining parks full of equipment used in gold and silver rushes. Nevada’s less populous areas have glorious sunsets, rugged mountains, historic opera houses and even, creepy, nationally known clown hotels.
All those things and more can be found in rural Nevada. There are agricultural areas, and towns that work to attract tourism as an important part of their economic base. Green energy projects and manufacturing operations boost populations. Many towns that formed during a mining rush still depend on mining—central Nevada is heavily dependent on mining. And while they may be smaller than the northern and southern Nevada metro areas, these rural communities are both affected by and affect Nevada’s economy.
From Mining to Culture, Stargazing to Mountains
Virginia City
Virginia City was established in northern Nevada in 1859 and it’s purposefully not adding new development within city limits. A historic town left the way it was with wooden sidewalks and mining equipment; it was the site of the Comstock Lode in 1859. The mines may no longer be operating, and the equipment is antiquated and on display, but there’s more to Virginia City than that.
“For the longest time Virginia City was a Wild West town, recognized as such, a ‘comeback to the world of ghost towns’,” said Todd Tuttle, tourism director, Virginia City. “But more important, it was a hub of cultural development and industrial development. We’re trying to build into that aspect, to discover what that was all about, to see the buildings that are up here. We have many Victorian buildings on the Italianate style, there are Rococo influences and Baroque influences, so there’s a lot to see and experience and discover here.”
Visitors used to come, in part, because of the tie-in to the long-running television series Bonanza, but as younger generations start exploring, the show doesn’t have the same recognition. So, the city is turning to outdoor recreation in addition to the historic buildings and mining equipment displays. “There’s the OHV (off-highway vehicle) market for instance, being able to come up and get out into some of the back county and experience the west on the mountainside,” said Tuttle.
Virginia City is known for its special events, including September’s camel races (featured on the cover), their Hauntober, and Christmas on the Comstock with its parades and fireworks.
Elko
Elko was founded in late 1868 by the Central Pacific Railroad (now Union Pacific). With mining camps across Nevada, the railroad town became an integral part of the freight system. Today, mining is a major economic driver for Elko.
“We are the capital, if you will, of the Nevada gold mining industry,” said Elko Mayor Reece Keener. “Most of the workforce resides in Elko for mining that happens in northeastern Nevada. Nevada Gold Mines is continuing their investment out at the Cortez site. They have two mines that are in development out there right now. Goldrush, which is an underground mine, and the Robertson mine. One of the nice things with such a large facility and a two-phase project is, if one mine is sunsetting, you can reconfigure your workforce then to move them over to the facility that you’re bringing online. That’s what they’re doing with those two facilities out there so they can maintain a consistent level of staffing.”
In a time when many employers find it difficult to staff up even in metro areas, finding workforce for the very rural mines basically depends on how robust the national economy is. When things are dire nationally, there’s generally more workforce available in Elko. During the 2009 recession when employers in Las Vegas weren’t hiring, Elko was attractive to job seekers looking for good money and opportunities.
It’s more difficult to find workforce when there’s lower nationwide unemployment, but Nevada Gold Mines has been partnering with universities’ mining, engineering and geology programs to bring graduates out to Elko for either internships or to hire them after graduation. “They’ve worked extensively with some of the vocational education programs at Great Basin College Elko, including diesel mechanics and instrumentation,” said Keener.
Currently, Elko’s economy is steady as she goes. “We have robust activity here. We just had a $55 million campus completed within the city limits of Elko for mining contractor Sandvik (Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions),” said Keener. The project is completely within Elko’s redevelopment district, which means taxes on the project will help pay for city infrastructure projects. Another new construction project is the competition-size swimming pool the Elko Boys & Girls Club is building, sponsored by (and named for) Nevada Gold Mines.
Tonopah
“Tonopah was founded by mining, and central Nevada in general is a mining community. Every community in central Nevada, I feel, supports mining,” said Joseph Westerlund, town manager. “It’s been the bread and butter in this area forever.”
What’s currently happening in Tonopah is prospective drilling by companies like Blackrock Silver interested in re-drilling silver mines on the west side of town, and Viva Gold drilling by the Belmont turnoff. There’s exploratory mining by Centerra Gold happening 26 miles away in Goldfield.
“We have a bunch of lithium deposits in the works of development and drilling so there’s a lot of active mining stuff on the precipice of kicking off, hopefully,” said Westerlund. “That’s a wish from me—to have one of these big mines open up and really spark the economy.”
Energy is another economic driver for Tonopah. “One short-term economic boost for us is this Greenlink West, the new electrical power grid they’re putting in,” said Westerlund. Greenlink West will be a 525kV line spanning from Las Vegas to Yerington. Construction involves building substations, two of them close enough to Tonopah that crews are expected to live in town for the two-year project. “If that two years can sustain us until we get one of the mines open, that would be the perfect scenario.”
The Economics of Rural
Nevada’s economy still relies on tourism, from Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas, and rural towns in between. The state’s economy needs rural communities to flourish, and some of the rural communities rely on the state.
“Overall, Nevada as a whole is tourism related, so we are connected,” said Tuttle. “I wouldn’t say dependent on the state, but connected to the state and its promotions with tourism.” Like when Virigina City works with Travel Nevada to promote road trips across Interstate 80 and traveling through time in the ghost towns and driving out Highway 50, the “Loneliest Road in America”, which Travel Nevada tags as the “gateway to ghost towns, historic mining communities, stunning state parks, unsurpassed recreational opportunities.”
For Tonopah, mining and tourism go hand in hand. One of the attractions is the Tonopah Historic Mining Park Museum and Historical Site. “We have a fantastic mining park, ” said Westerlund. “We have a tour that can last two and a half or three hours, and the tour guides tell such a great historical background of the town and the workings up at the mining park, it’s amazing.”
So is the stargazing. Away from big city lights, Tonopah’s sky shines, attracting stargazers to gather in a local park where a guide brings his telescope so visitors and residents can watch the skies.
From the wondrous to the eerie: Tonopah is home to the famous Clown Motel, voted the scariest motel in America, because, frankly clowns are scary, and because of its proximity to the Old Tonopah Cemetery. There’s also the Mizpah Hotel, built in 1907 and reportedly quite haunted. If word of mouth is the best way to draw visitors, Westerlund said watching the CEO of a major corporation ghost hunting through the basement of a haunted hotel, having the time of his life, must be major advertising once the CEO goes back home and starts talking.
Tonopah also works with Travel Nevada and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, working to turn the town from a stopover to a destination. There’s a 50/50 grant program through the state and the town goes after grants for advertising annually.
Elko attracts outdoor enthusiasts with its location in the Ruby Mountains. The range is part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and outdoor recreation opportunities include fishing, hiking, biking, rock climbing, camping and off-roading. Elko is home to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and the Silver State Stampede rodeo, and there are still cattle ranches in the area – and cowboys, and cattle.
Mesquite is somewhat more dependent on Nevada’s economy than some other rural towns. Over the last 15 to 20 years, the town has become a retirement/golf destination, said Mayor Jesse Whipple. Median age for the population is 64 and a half, which means the economic base consists largely of property taxes and gaming revenues.
“Our top economic driver is gaming, and we’re tied into the whole county (Clark County), so most revenue is from gaming and room tax, some from property tax, but the lion’s share from gaming, which affects our budget every year,” said Whipple. When the Superbowl was held in Vegas, Mesquite shared that windfall. In 2025, gaming revenues are down from that high. “The service industry fluctuates based on consumer confidence, and right now consumer confidence is down across the board. That affects us.”
The Economic Development of Rural
Before Mesquite’s economic development plans can include attracting new industries or businesses, there are challenges to overcome. For one, they need to attract workers to fill the jobs in businesses residents need, such as retail. “We’ve been working on bringing in retail like clothing stores, those types of things,” said Whipple. “We don’t have a lot of retail other than Walmart.”
Before bringing in employees for prospective jobs, though, Mesquite, like so many cities across the state, needs to build housing.
“The big challenge is housing, across the region,” said Whipple. Mayors across Clark County recently met to address the challenge, looking for solutions to affordable housing for workers while needing workers to create affordable housing. It’s a chicken and egg situation, Whipple admits, and one that hasn’t been solved yet.
In the meantime, public projects coming online in Mesquite include a new fire station, new apartment buildings and new single-family homes. There’s a $3.5 million animal shelter project, and a new justice facility addition running $5 million.
In the private sector, Crown Cork & Seal Manufacturing, a beverage packaging company, recently located in Mesquite.
Virginia City itself isn’t looking to build out but to stay the same, true to its historic past and preserved buildings. Storey County, where Virginia City is located, is another story. There’s more to the county than ghost towns. Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center is located in Storey County and is the third largest industrial park in the world, and the largest in the U.S. It’s currently expanding rapidly, having started with Panasonic batteries and Tesla in the park and moving on to encompass data centers, a tire warehouse, and warehouse and distribution businesses.
Tourism and mining are Tonopah’s main economic drivers, but there’s economic development in progress along with some projects that have given the town an economic boost. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project started construction in 2012 and began operation in 2015. There have been hiccups along the way, but in 2025, it’s operational. There are other solar projects, not in Tonopah’s county (Nye) but in neighboring Esmeralda, 30 miles away there’s a planned solar field.
A lot of the economic development in Tonopah is wrapped around mining and support services companies it would like to bring in. But even with new mines and mine services companies wanting to come into the area, there are roadblocks. Like Mesquite, Tonopah doesn’t have enough housing for miners, something a recently assembled housing group is studying. “When solar kicked off they had a thousand employees and we handled that, so I think we can handle this,” said Westerlund. “We’re just trying to come up with long-term solutions for families because nobody wants to move into town and live in a man camp. Housing is a problem we have.”
Another problem is healthcare. Tonopah doesn’t have an active hospital anymore. Nye County Hospital District has been looking for years for a way to bring in healthcare. Tonopah does have two decent clinics, Westerlund said, and paramedics on their ambulances. “We just need to take that next step. There’s a huge money gap that we have to get filled and hopefully if those mines do come in, they’ll step up and help us accomplish that. That would be great. But they’re not going to do anything if they’re not mining. They’re not going to build a hospital or a quick care on speculation, and I think everybody understands that.”
Economic development in Elko is currently challenging. Elko County works with neighboring counties looking for leads. Several that are in the works include mining industry support companies, an obvious fit for the area.
“There are leads that we could definitely qualify for if we had 500,000-square-feet of warehouse space waiting to be occupied,” said Keener. “Seems like the development opportunities are looking for significant warehouse space and that’s just something we do not have; it’s not being built speculatively here in Elko.” A few years ago, Komatsu, Ltd., a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures heavy equipment for mining and other industries invested $30 million in Elko, building a 50,000-square-foot warehouse as phase one of an ongoing project. “I’m sure there will be other businesses and other users that will select that site in the future.”
Elko’s economy isn’t decoupled from the state’s economy, but it is a completely different market than Reno or Las Vegas. During the 2009 recession, while the rest of the state lead the country in foreclosures and unemployment, Elko’s economy was booming. “Gold was starting to hit its upswing,” said Keener. At $3,300/ounce in June 2025, gold has reached record territory.
That said, there’s less going on in Elko than Keener would expect. The city is still issuing a lot of building permits and through the month of May 2025, the valuation for permits was at $1.8 million, and permit valuations are at $11.3 million for the year. “People are definitely interested in being in Elko,” said Keener. A new subdivision recently came online with out-of-state investors, the first three phases having 100 lots. And in terms of new industries, a major equipment rental firm is coming to Elko in the near future.
But otherwise, things are quiet, more quiet than Keener would expect given the price of gold. The population continues to grow at a rate of approximately 400 year over year, at 23,000 in 2025.
Community
The population of Virginia City hasn’t changed significantly in recent years, but there are people who visit, fall in love and stay.
Tonopah’s seen some population growth, including boosts from solar energy and mining projects bringing 50 to 60 full-time jobs to town. When Westerlund started as town manager, Census information showed a population of 1799. Believing that was wrong, he went out and counted doors on residential buildings. “We are currently sitting at 2,851 people in our population, so almost 3,000 people,” said Westerlund.
USDA Rural Development is a federal agency with a unique role. “We focus exclusively on America’s rural people and places,” said Alida Ceballos, state director, USDA Rural Development Nevada.
Limited to communities with populations of 50,000 or less, the organization offers loans, grants and assistance in applying for them. It serves individuals, businesses, organizations, nonprofits and communities.
“In Nevada, that’s overwhelmingly county-level organizations or cities that support rural prosperity,” said Ceballos. “We partner with our communities as they grow economically to plan for the future, improve housing, improve infrastructure, and much more. A lot of that comes from the vision that our rural communities have for themselves and we help make that vision a reality.”
The agency works in advisory and financial roles, offers grants, and there’s actual development activity by USDA Rural Development, and public/private partnerships. Loans are often competitive, low interest, for areas that might otherwise have a hard time finding investment. In June the agency broke ground for an essential wastewater system, an $18 million partnership between the agency and Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, a six-mile sewer line across a variety of terrain to ensure the rural community has safe water conditions. The system connects Pine View Estates to the Minden-Gardnerville sanitation district.
USDA programs include a rural micro entrepreneur assistance program to help small startups without a ton of employees. Another program for agricultural producers who want to market their products provides smaller grants to help owners enhance marketing efforts.
