City · Elko County, Nevada
Carlin, Nevada
Carlin is a city in Elko County, Nevada, part of the Elko, NV metro area. It has 2,088 residents. Carlin, Nevada has a quality-of-life score of 24 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,829 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Nevada it ranks #42 of 67 cities and towns. It ranks best on public transit commuters (high), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on natural hazard risk (high), distance to an emergency room (high) and distance to an airport (high).
- Quality-of-life score
- #11,829 of 15,651 cities and towns
- Nevada
- #42 of 67 in NV
- Population
- 2,088 (2020-2024)
- Land area
- 10 mi²
- Density
- 200.0 /mi²
- FIPS code
- 3208900
Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.
Scores by category
Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.
- Safety25#11,795/15,637
- Economy70#4,657/15,631
- Housing43#8,526/14,977
- Health27#11,409/15,609
- Healthcare6#14,749/15,650
- Environment53#7,283/15,453
- Education7#14,496/15,649
- Infrastructure36#9,971/15,650
- Community23#12,090/15,651
- Leisure & amenities71#4,500/15,651
Strengths · Weaknesses
Indicators where Carlin, Nevada ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Elko County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.
Strengths
- Public transit commuters · high9.3%
- Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.8 µg/m³97/100Nevada 6.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyElko County value
- Child care cost burden · low20.2%94/100Nevada 24.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteElko County value
- Public EV charging ports · high13.5 /10k
- Effective property tax rate · low0.51%
- Unemployment rate · low1.6%87/100Nevada 5.3%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCensus table B23025High uncertainty
Weaknesses
- Natural hazard risk · high99.8
- Distance to an emergency room · high33.4 mi0/100Nevada 4.9 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesElko County value
- Distance to an airport · high179 mi1/100Nevada 17 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauElko County value
- Firearm deaths · high31.3 /100k2/100Nevada 16.8 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataElko County value
- Suicide rate · high29.5 /100k4/100Nevada 20.5 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataElko County value
- Pharmacies · low0.6 /10k
Trends
The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.
- Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
3.7% (2015-2019) → 17.3% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
- Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.8× (2015-2019) → 3.0× (2020-2024)
+67%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
- Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
3.2% (2015-2019) → 16.3% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
- Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
21.6% (2015-2019) → 34.0% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
- Unemployment rateImproving
7.9% (2015-2019) → 1.6% (2020-2024)
−6.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
- Average commute timeImproving
30.8 min (2015-2019) → 22.1 min (2020-2024)
−28%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
What changed in five years
How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.
Cities and towns like Carlin, Nevada five years ago that improved
The places whose measures looked most like those of Carlin, Nevada in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.
Who lives here
Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).
Income
How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.
Homes
Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.
Getting to work
How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.
Jobs and pay
What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.
Pay in the Elko, NVLocal businesses
Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.
Federal contracts performed here
Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Carlin is mostly in Elko County.
See federal money in Elko CountyRepresentation in Congress
Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.
County
A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.
Metro area
The metro or micro area the city belongs to.
Other cities and towns in Elko County
Largest first.
Similar cities and towns
Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).
- Springfield, GA24Alike on Work from home, Bachelor's+, Rent / income
- Arial, SC37Alike on Home value, Property tax, Mental distress
- Grantville, GA35Alike on Income per capita, Uninsured, Bachelor's+
- Globe, AZ17Alike on Property tax, Broadband, Price / income
- Inverness Highlands North, FL25Alike on Transit use, Property tax, Child poverty
Data and sources
Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.
- PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
- Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
- American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
- Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
- Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
- Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
- Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
- County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement