City · Elko County, Nevada

Wells, Nevada

Wells is a city in Elko County, Nevada, part of the Elko, NV metro area. It has 1,352 residents. Wells, Nevada has a quality-of-life score of 22 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,133 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Nevada it ranks #46 of 67 cities and towns. It ranks best on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low), effective property tax rate (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).

22Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,133 of 15,651 cities and towns
Nevada: #46 of 67 in NV
Population: 1,352 (2020-2024)
Land area: 7 mi²
Density: 195.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 3283000

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety25#11,795/15,637
Economy59#6,380/15,631
Housing46#8,114/14,977
Health12#13,667/15,609
Healthcare13#13,665/15,650
Environment53#7,283/15,453
Education3#15,134/15,649
Infrastructure44#8,688/15,650
Community21#12,305/15,651
Leisure & amenities71#4,500/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Wells, 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

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.8 µg/m³
97/100Nevada 6.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyElko County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.36%
95/100Nevada 0.50%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Child care cost burden · low20.2%
94/100Nevada 24.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteElko County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
91/100Nevada 5.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Public EV charging ports · high13.5 /10k
89/100Nevada 8.3 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyElko County value
Job growth · high1.8%
87/100Nevada 2.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataElko County value

Weaknesses

Natural hazard risk · high99.8
0/100Nevada 34.92025Federal Emergency Management AgencyElko County value
Distance to an emergency room · high33.4 mi
0/100Nevada 4.9 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesElko County value
Distance to an airport · high179 mi
1/100Nevada 17 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauElko County value
Firearm deaths · high31.3 /100k
2/100Nevada 16.8 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataElko County value
Suicide rate · high29.5 /100k
4/100Nevada 20.5 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataElko County value
Pharmacies · low0.6 /10k
4/100Nevada 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsElko County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
1,022 (2015-2019) → 1,352 (2020-2024)
+32%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Average commute timeWorsening
14.6 min (2015-2019) → 37.0 min (2020-2024)
+153%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$48,958 (2015-2019) → $107,454 (2020-2024)
+119%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
41.8% (2015-2019) → 22.8% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.7% (2015-2019) → 94.2% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
86.4% (2015-2019) → 70.1% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

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.

Over about five years, Wells, Nevada improved on 2 of 7 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 5 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Household income+119%$48,958 → $107,454
Broadband+18 points76.7% → 94.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 7 measures

Change of every measure of Wells, Nevada between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.6 min2015-2019	37.0 min2020-2024	+22.4 min	Within the margin of error	0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	7.4%2015-2019	9.9%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Broadband subscriptions	76.7%2015-2019	94.2%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	86%
High school diploma or higher	86.4%2015-2019	70.1%2020-2024	−16 points	Within the margin of error	0%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	−0.8×	Within the margin of error	97%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4402015-2019	0.3202020-2024	−0.119	Within the margin of error	97%
Median household income	$48,9582015-2019	$107,4542020-2024	+119%	Improved	99%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Wells, Nevada five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Wells, 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.

For comparison, Wells, Nevada itself moved +8.9 points in standing on average over the same 7 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

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).

Age and sex

1,352 residents (±450)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

381 households (±105)

Wells, Nevada
Nevada share

Under $25k18%†70
$25k–50k11%†42
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

381 households (±105)

Wells, Nevada
Nevada share

Own66%†251
Rent34%†130

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

740 workers (±297)

Wells, Nevada
Nevada share

Drive alone74%†548
Carpool18%†132
Public transit

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, NV

Local 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.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Elko County, the county holding most of Wells's residents.

Elko County has 1,185 employer establishments, 217 for every 10,000 residents (0.87× the US rate of 248; 0.90× Nevada's), with 21,652 paid employees at an average annual pay of $67,904. The Census Bureau also counts 2,961 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,185; 2,961 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 217; US 248 · Nevada 241
Paid employees: 21,652
Average annual pay: $67,904; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Elko County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	101	18.5	0.89×About typical	866	$60,042	87
Restaurants and other eating places	86	15.8	0.86×About typical	1,248	$25,585	21
Specialty trade contractors	68	12.5	0.81×About typical	1,204	$97,218	123
Lessors of real estate	49	9	0.73×Fewer than typical	249	$37,213	352
Traveler accommodation	45	8.2	4.57×More than typical	3,652	$40,320	21
Limited-service restaurants	42	7.7	0.96×About typical	671	$22,864	11
Architectural, engineering and related services	36	6.6	1.89×More than typical	357	$65,504	30
Services to buildings and dwellings	35	6.4	0.95×About typical	180	$44,578	172
Offices of other health practitioners	34	6.2	1.03×About typical	209	$43,139	53
Automotive repair and maintenance	33	6	1.20×About typical	156	$61,968	62
Construction of buildings	30	5.5	0.73×Fewer than typical	324	$82,713	74
Full-service restaurants	29	5.3	0.69×Fewer than typical	472	$30,778	3

Rank places for an industry Open Elko County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 54,566 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Wells is mostly in Elko County.

See federal money in Elko County

Representation 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.

Wells, Nevada is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mark E. AmodeiR-NV-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 2.8%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Elko County38100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Elko, NV46

Other cities and towns in Elko County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

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

JSON · /api/v1/places/3283000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends