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Strong growth for tourism.

The gains made last year and the trends early in 2023 have brought a full-scale recovery within sight.

Southern Nevada’s tourism industry experienced a year of strong growth in 2022, with many key metrics reaching post-pandemic highs. While the industry still trailed many 2019 benchmarks, the gains made last year and the trends early in 2023 have brought a full-scale recovery within sight.

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, visitor volume reached 40.4 million in March 2023 on a trailing 12-month basis, a 13.6 percent increase compared with March 2022. The latest number was within 5.6 percent of the pre-pandemic high in February 2020. Convention attendance also made strong gains over the year, but its recovery has not been as robust compared to broader leisure visitation. In March 2023, convention attendance reached 5.7 million during the past 12 months, a 68.9 percent increase from March 2022. This marked the highest attendance level since March 2020, when the pandemic halted conventions and other large in-person gatherings. Despite the gains in convention activity over the past year, it remained 14.7 percent lower than in February 2020.

A key driver of the tourism rebound during the past year has been sourced to a number of special events, high-profile concerts and a strong mix of professional sporting events. The Harry Reid International Airport has been a source of travel for a significant number of visitors; passenger counts have more than recovered from their pandemic-era lows. March 2023 set a monthly record with 4.9 million passengers, bringing the trailing 12-month total to an all-time high of 55.4 million. That total exceeded the pre-pandemic high in February 2020 by over 3 million, or 6.5 percent. Meanwhile, average daily auto traffic on Interstate 15 at the California border also exceeded pre-pandemic values at 45,524 (trailing 12-month average) by 1.6 percent. However, this was down 5.9 percent from March 2022.

Hotel occupancy rates reached 90.5 percent on the Las Vegas Strip in March 2023 and 88.3 percent across Southern Nevada. Both were post-pandemic highs, though they remained about 3 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels. The average daily room rate in Southern Nevada climbed to its highest level of all time in March 2023 at $213.25, a 30.7 percent increase over March 2022 and a 59.2 percent increase over March 2019. The prior monthly record was the $209.89 set in October 2022, which was the first time the average daily room rate exceeded $200.

Gaming revenue in Clark County in March 2023 totaled of $13.1 billion on a 12-month basis, which was 6.0 percent higher than a year earlier and 25.8 percent higher than the February 2020 value of $10.4 billion. The growth was fueled by 11 straight months of gaming revenue exceeding $1 billion. The Las Vegas Strip reached $8.5 billion in gaming revenue over the 12 months through March 2023, a 9.0 percent annual increase compared to a 6.0 percent annual increase for Southern Nevada as a whole. In downtown Las Vegas, gross gaming revenues were the highest of all time in March 2023, reaching $903.4 million on a trailing 12-month basis.

The momentum in Southern Nevada’s tourism industry through 2022 and into 2023 appears poised to continue in the months ahead. There are over 600 events scheduled for 2023, including concerts by Beyoncé and U2 and Las Vegas’ first ever Formula 1 race. Meanwhile, the $3.1 billion Fontainebleau, the Durango Casino and Resort and the MSG Sphere, a first-of-its-kind 18,000-seat entertainment hall, highlight the new resorts and amenities scheduled to open later this year to support further expansion of the region’s critical tourism industry.

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Visitor Profiles

Las vegas visitor profile studies.

Conducted since 1975, the LVCVA’s annual Las Vegas Visitor Profile reflects findings from a compilation of visitor surveys to illustrate evolving visitor characteristics and behaviors. In addition to the main visitor profile, the crosstab matrix offers a quick reference to compare key visitor characteristics of a variety of Las Vegas visitor market segments.

2023 Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study

2023 Matrix of Las Vegas Visitor Segments (Excel)

2023 Matrix of Las Vegas Visitor Segments (PDF)

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Number of visitors to Las Vegas 2000-2021

Number of visitors to las vegas in the united states from 2000 to 2021 (in millions).

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In 2023, Las Vegas saw its highest visitation totals since before the pandemic

Las Vegas drew more than 40.8 million visitors in 2023, the destination’s highest single-year total since the pandemic decimated the state’s tourism market starting in 2020.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) said Wednesday the market closed out the year with almost 3.4 million visitors in December, a 2.7 percent increase from a year ago. 

The 12-month total was 5.2 percent higher than in 2022 and was the largest yearly total since the Las Vegas area drew 42.5 million visitors in 2019. 

The LVCVA released the December and year-end visitation numbers during the Vegas Chamber’s Preview Las Vegas 2024 event on Wednesday, a week before the Gaming Control Board releases year-end gaming revenue figures.

“This was an epic year,” LVCVA CEO Steve Hill said in a presentation at Preview. He cited the “totality” of Las Vegas seeing a 20 percent year-over-year increase in convention and conference attendance, increased tourism and top-tier special events, including the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Wells Fargo Securities gaming analyst Daniel Politzer told investors in a research note Wednesday that the visitation trends were consistent with commentary from resort operators.

“We view December as a solid month in Las Vegas, and a strong follow-up from a record November bolstered by Formula One,” Politzer wrote.

Records were set for average daily room rates in Las Vegas, which topped $191 a night, 12 percent higher than in 2022. Strip resorts averaged $204.42 a night, up 12.3 percent from a year ago.

Revenue per available room, an economic measure analysts use to gauge profitability, was $176.21 on the Strip, up almost 19 percent from 2022, and $159.73 citywide, up 18 percent.

Hotel occupancy in Las Vegas averaged 83.5 percent, up 4.3 percent from 2022.

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• Last Updated On
• June 10, 2023

Las Vegas Visitor Statistics and Tourism Figures 2022

It’s little wonder that Las Vegas is a hub for tourists and visitors. Sin City is widely considered the entertainment capital of the world. And while it’s most known for its casinos and gambling, the city also plays host to world class singers and stars in residencies across its many phenomenal venues.

But just how huge is tourism in the city? We took a look at Las Vegas visitor statistics and travel demand and here’s all the facts and figures you need about the scale of Vegas tourism.

Key Vegas Visitor Statistics

Here for the quick version? Find out fast Vegas visitor stats below. If you want more detail, read on!

• A quarter of Brits named Vegas as one of the top 3 US cities they’d most like to visit (putting Vegas third behind New York City (41%) and Los Angeles (26%)
• In 2019, Las Vegas attracted a phenomenal 42.5 million tourists
• This dropped by more than half in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, with just 19 million visitors recorded that year
• Hotel room inventory in Las Vegas was a mere 25,430 in 1970. By 2019 this reached 150,259
• Incredibly, those rooms were 88.9% occupied on average throughout 2019 (that average rose to 95% on weekends)
• In 2019, 15% of the 42.5 million visitors attended a convention in the city while there

Las Vegas Tourism: How Many Brits Want to Visit?

Pre-pandemic and border closures, Brits were a huge source of tourism to the US with over 4.5 million visitors arriving from the UK annually according to statistics . 

But that figure only focuses on those who’ve made it here. What we wanted to find out is how many Brits want to visit the US and, more specifically, Las Vegas.

So we polled 2,000 Brits in November 2021 to ask them:

“Which of the following US cities would you most like to visit (pick up to 3)?”

We gave respondents a list of the top 25 largest US cities by population with the option to also specify others or that they don’t want to visit any.

Here’s what they told us:

• A quarter of Brits want to visit Las Vegas, according to our figures

The 25% of Brits who want to visit Las Vegas makes Sin City the third most popular choice behind New York (41%) and Los Angeles (26%).

There are some variations by age and gender too.

While movies like The Hangover may lead you to believe Vegas is a more popular choice amongst Bachelor parties and male groups, it’s actually women who are likeliest to say they want to visit (27% vs 23% of men).

The breakdown varies by age too.

Just under a third of Brits aged 25 to 44 name Vegas in their top 3 desirable US cities to visit. At the other end of that scale, just 17% of over 55s do the same.

Whether it’s for the shows, attractions, or the top restaurants in Las Vegas , what’s clear from our statistics is that far more than the 4.5 million Brits who make it to Vegas each year actually want to. Vegas is the third most popular city in the States as a desired tourist stop by Brits and as borders reopen, let’s hope the city is welcoming many of them.

Official Las Vegas Visitor Numbers Through History

Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority goes back to 1970 and covers visitor statistics, those visiting for conventions and figures around hotel room inventory and occupancy.

We’ve pulled together data from the LVCVA to look at numbers over time.

• In 1970, there were 6.7 million visitors to Las Vegas
• In 2019, this had grown to 42.5 million
• In 2020, following the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, visitor numbers fell to just 19 million, the lowest number since 1989.
• In 2021, there were 32,230,600 visitors to Las Vegas, showing a stark recovery despite travel restrictions for overseas visitors still in place for much of the year.

Let’s cast the pandemic aside for one moment. What these Vegas visitor statistics show is that Las Vegas is a city whose popularity with tourists surges year after year after year. With few exceptions, tourism in the city grows consistently.

And even in the midst of a global pandemic, Vegas still attracted over 19 million visitors in 2020. The first 10 months of 2021 showed some recovery, with over 26 million visitors recorded with 2 months of the year to go.

How Many Hotel Rooms are There in Las Vegas?

The data from the LVCVA also goes into detail about hotel room inventory in the city and occupancy too.

So let’s see how that looks over time.

• In 1970, there were just over 25,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas
• Fast forward to 2021 and that number was 150,535

Unsurprisingly, as the city’s tourist numbers have risen, so too has the supply of hotel rooms. And Las Vegas now has over 150,000 rooms available.

That sounds like a lot of rooms, right? But the high occupancy rates of these hotel rooms (according to the figures) suggest they’re absolutely necessary.

• Between 1986 and 2019, hotel annual average occupancy never fell below 80%
• The Covid effect saw occupancy in 20% fall to an all time low of 42%
• 2021 averaged 68.8% – better than 2020 but still lower than occupancy in 1970

What’s clear is the astronomical impact that the pandemic has had on hotels and hospitality businesses. Signs of recovery are positive, but there’s some way to go before Vegas is back at those not-far-off 90% occupancy levels pre-pandemic.

Vegas Tourism Statistics in Search

We think a great indicator of demand and mood is Google! Whether it’s shopping for gifts, Googling healthcare symptoms or planning the trip of a lifetime, millions of us take to Google every single day.

So understanding how people are searching for things related to travel to Vegas gives us some really amazing insight. We used kwfinder.com to get estimates of the number of monthly searches made in the USA (and specific states within) for different words and phrases around Las Vegas travel.

Here’s what we found.

• Unsurprisingly, there was a significant dip in searches for flights, hotels and things to do in the aftermath of Covid-19 being declared a pandemic
• But things are starting to recover. Our data shows that demand in Google search was higher in October 2021 for hotels and things to do than in October 2019, pre-Pandemic
• Between October 2019 and October 2021 inclusive, there were 10,883,000 (almost 11 million!) searches in Google USA for “ Las Vegas hotels ”
• In the same timeframe, statistics from kwfinder.com show there were 2,207,000 searches for “ things to do in Las Vegas ”
• Over that period, Google USA saw 5,441,500 searches for “flights to Vegas”
• In February 2022, the statistics show that monthly searches in the USA for “Las Vegas hotels” his 1,000,000 for the first time

Post Pandemic Las Vegas Visitor Statistics – The Future is Bright?

The LVCVA figures show a marked recovery in the first 10 months of 2021. And search volume in Google is also recovering too, which includes family travel terms such as “ Las Vegas with kids “. Our statistics all point to the fact that once travel is as feasible as it once was Vegas will be back bigger and better than ever before.

What are you looking for?

56+ las vegas travel & tourism statistics [fresh for 2024].

Las Vegas is hands-down one of the most popular places to travel in the world.

It’s one of the first cities anyone would associate with the United States.

But did you know that the city has approximately 32 million visitors every year?

How is tourism growing in Las Vegas?

From hitting the casino to strolling down the infamous Strip, there are many things you can do in Las Vegas .

Today, we’ll be looking at the most recent and important statistics about this American city.

Sources: Head to the bottom of this post for the complete list of sources and articles used.

Travellerspoint

What rank is Las Vegas in tourism?

Las Vegas ranks fifth worldwide in terms of tourism-related awards worldwide, or first in the US.

It has won 39 awards over 2015 to 2019, including United States' Leading Casino Resort 2019, North America's Leading Tourist Attraction 2018, and North America's Leading Meetings & Conference Centre 2019.

How many tourists does Las Vegas get a year?

In 2021, Las Vegas welcomed approximately 32 million visitors.

How many tourists visit Las Vegas each day?

On average, Las Vegas has around 600 thousand visitors per week, or 88 thousand each day.

Is tourism to Las Vegas growing?

Yes, tourism to Las Vegas is growing and has been consistently growing since 2000, when annual visitors were at 35.85 million.

Las Vegas Travel & Tourism Key Statistics

• In 2022, 38.8 million people visited Las Vegas, a 20.5% increase from the 32.2 million visitors in 2021.
• Las Vegas ranks fifth worldwide in terms of tourism-related award worldwide, and first in the US.
• In 2015, 84% of visitors to Las Vegas was from within the US.
• On average, visitors in Las Vegas spent $462.37 on food and drink alone in 2021 during their trip.
• The casino hotel sector in the US was valued at $58.13 billion in 2021.
• In 2021, 76% of visitors in Las Vegas said they gambled while visiting the city.
• In 2015, the average visitor in Las Vegas was 47.7 years old. This age has since become younger, to just 43.2 year old in 2021.
• 80% of visitors in 2021 were returning visitors, more than 76% in 2019.
• The Average Daily Rate of hotels in Las Vegas was $170.98 in 2022, or 24.5% higher than in 2021.
• In 2022, meetings and conventions attracted nearly 5 million visitors to Las Vegas, a whopping 126.2% increase from 2021’s figure.

Inbound tourism in Las Vegas

1. the number of visitors to las vegas has increased slightly from 2000 (35.85) to 2019 (42.52 million), before dipping dramatically to 19 million in 2020 due to the pandemic..

The pandemic in 2020 caused the number of visitors in Las Vegas to fall by more than half, to 19 million .

2. In 2022, 38.8 million people visited Las Vegas, a 20.5% increase from the 32.2 million visitors in 2021.

[Statista & LVCVA]

3. On average, Las Vegas has around 600 thousand visitors per week, or 88 thousand every day.

4. harry reid airport had a record-breaking 52.6 million passenger arrivals in 2022, more even than its 2019 figure of 51.5 million. .

[Travel Weekly]

5. The airport welcomed 39.7 million arrivals in 2021.

6. 5.1 million passengers arrived in harry reid airport in october 2022, which was the first time they surpassed 5 million arrivals monthly., 7. las vegas ranks fifth worldwide in terms of tourism-related awards worldwide, or first in the us..

[Vegas Magazine]

It has won 39 awards over 2015 to 2019.

8. For UK residents, Las Vegas is the third city in the US that they would like to visit the most (25%).

[Family Destinations Guide] When asked which US city they want to visit the most, 25% of Brits answer Las Vegas , ranking them third just behind New York (41%) and Los Angeles (26%).

Domestic tourism in Las Vegas

9. in 2015, 84% of visitors to las vegas was from within the us..

More than 8 in every 10 visitors to Las Vegas are from the US.

10. About 3 in 5 visitors are actually from the Western U.S.

[GLS Research]

11. Moreover, 26% of all visitors to Vegas is from Southern California.

About a quarter of all Las Vegas visitors are from Southern California.

12. 52% of visitors in Las Vegas arrived by vehicle, compared to 48% by air.

The economy of las vegas tourism, 13. on average, visitors in las vegas spent $462.37 on food and drink alone in 2021 during their trip., 14. visitors also spend an average of $160 on local transportation in las vegas, much higher than the $131 average in 2019., 15. shopping expenditure also rose in 2021, to $342.29 from $281 in 2019. , 16. the casino hotel sector in the us was valued at $58.13 billion in 2021..

As the casino capital of the States, Las Vegas contributes a significant amount to this number.

17. Las Vegas Sands, the top casino and entertainment resort brand in the city, generated a net income of $1.36 billion in 2022.

18. the total assets of las vegas sands was $22.04 billion in 2022., las vegas casino statistics, 19. in 2021, 76% of visitors in las vegas said they gambled while visiting the city., 20. nevada gaming control board reported a record-high win by casinos in las vegas of $14.8 billion in 2022..

This is a 23% increase from 2019. 

21. By December 2022, Las Vegas casinos made over $1 billion in winnings for the 22nd month in a row.

22. the las vegas strip alone won $8.29 billion in 2022, higher than its previous record in 2021, which was $7.1 billion., 23. downton made $880 thousand in casino winnings in 2022, while the boulder strip made $967 thousand., 24. the average gambling budget was $717.51 per trip in 2021..

This has risen from the lower range of $591-$619 between 2016 and 2019.

25. Visitors are also reported to spending more time gambling: 3 hours daily in 2021, compared to 2.2 hours in 2018 and 2.7 hours in 2019.

Demographics of las vegas tourism.

What are the demographics of tourists in Vegas?

26. Since 2016, the gender distribution of visitors to Las Vegas has been pretty much equal at 50-50.

Half, or 50%, of visitors in 2021 were female.

27. In 2015, the average visitor in Las Vegas was 47.7 years old. This age has since become younger, to just 43.2 year old in 2021.

The average age of travellers in Las Vegas is getting younger over the years, including baby boomers who travel there.

28. 80% of visitors in 2021 was returning visitors, more than 76% in 2019.

29. only 48% of visitors in 2021 planned their vegas trip more than one month in advance, much less compared to previous years..

This suggests a tendency among visitors to be more spontaneous in their travel style.

30. The average length of stay for visitors in Vegas was 3.6 nights in 2021, up from 3.4 nights in 2018.

31. in 2021, visitors were more likely to be married (56%) and have an annual household income of $40,000 or more., 32. 15% of 2021 vegas visitors were retired, compared to 21% in 2019., 33. 18% of visitors to las vegas in 2021 were aged 60 or older, which is roughly the percentage for baby boomers..

In 2021, baby boomers made up approximately 18% of all visitors to Las Vegas.

34. Meanwhile, 67% of visitors are aged 21 to 49 years old.

This is roughly where the millennial generation is categorized into, contributing to the largest age group of visitors to Las Vegas (67%) .

35. The majority (60%) of visitors in Las Vegas travel as a couple.

Out of all the visitors in 2021, 14% travelled to Las Vegas alone .

Hotels and accommodations in Las Vegas statistics

36. a majority of overnight visitors in vegas (91%) stayed in a hotel., 37. less than 1% of visitors in las vegas stayed in an rv park, while 9% chose to stay with friends/relatives..

RV parks are not particularly a popular accommodation type for tourists in Vegas, with less than 1% staying in an RV park in 2021 .

However, there are many campervan and RV rentals in Las Vegas that visitors can choose from.

38. Las Vegas hotel occupancy for 2022 was at 79%, with weekends being busier at 89% occupancy rate, compared to the midweek occupancy of 75%.

39. the average daily rate of hotels in las vegas was $170.98 in 2022, or 24.5% higher than in 2021..

In 2022, the daily rate of a hotel in Las Vegas is $170.98 on average .

40. Meanwhile, the Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) of Las Vegas hotels was at $135.42.

41. in 2022, the total room nights occupied in las vegas hotels was 43.6 million nights., 42. july is the busiest month for hotels in las vegas, with over 3.9 million room nights recorded in 2022 of that month., 43. in 2021, 74% of visitors used an app or website to book their accommodation..

More people in Las Vegas are using apps and websites to book accommodation, with the percentage reaching 74% in 2021, a signifacnt increase from 52% in 2019 .

Tourist activities & destinations in Las Vegas

44. the most popular type of entertainment among tourists in las vegas in 2019 was lounge acts, attended by 38% of visitors., 45. this was tied by production/broadway shows (also 38%), and followed by headliners (26%), comedy revues (11%), and sport events (8%)..

46. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas was the top-grossing stadium in the world from November 2021 to October 2022.

47. allegiant stadium held 24 shows during that period, generating $185 million through over 1 million attendees., 48. the fourth highest grossing stadium is also located in las vegas, which is across interstate 15. it generated $124.7 million gross revenue with 58 shows and 731 thousand guests., 49. 35% of visitors stated that they used a ride sharing service while in las vegas..

This is the second most popular mode of transportation after own vehicle (52%). Meanwhile, 13% of visitors in Las Vegas drive a rental car .

Reasons for travel to Las Vegas

Why do people go to Las Vegas?

50. In 2022, meetings and conventions attracted nearly 5 million visitors to Las Vegas, a whopping 126.2% increase from 2021’s figure.

Business travel is a huge reason for travel in Las Vegas. In fact, the city welcomed 5 million attendees to meetings and conventions in 2022 .

51. But this has yet to recover to the 6.6 million people who attended conventions in Las Vegas in 2019.

52. in 2021, 30% of convention visitors extended their trip by 1 to 3 nights for vacation, whereas 13% extended it for 4 or more nights., 53. 56% of visitors who went to a convention in las vegas did not extend their trip for leisure purposes., 54. vacation was the biggest reason for visiting las vegas in 2021 (52% of respondents)..

This percentage was significantly higher than in 2019, when only 36% travelled to Las Vegas for pleasure.

55. 16% came to Las Vegas to visit friends and/or relatives.

56. While gambling is a popular motivation for a visit to Las Vegas, the percentage fell from 14% in 2019 to just 8% in 2021.

57. nearly all (96%) tourists in las vegas are satisfied with their visit. 70% are "very satisfied", while 26% are "somewhat satisfied"..

Overall, tourism in Las Vegas has been steadily growing and recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

Hopefully, these statistics could help you understand more about the industry.

Did we miss anything interesting in this post?

Drop a comment below and let us know!

In the meantime, here are more travel statistics you might enjoy:

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Don't Make This Common Walking Mistake When You Go To Las Vegas For The First Time

When thinking of Las Vegas, a city known for entertainment and convenient, exciting U.S. destination weddings , it's easy to imagine strutting down Las Vegas Boulevard to take the city by storm. From afar, it seems like all of the buildings practically run into each other — especially at night when the glittering lights bring the architecture to life. Larger-than-life attractions and buildings make you feel like an ant. Though, like an ant at a picnic, a blanket could be much bigger than you imagined. 

Sin City might seem small to the naked eye, but your poor feet will be aching if you try to walk The Strip every day of your trip. Don't get us wrong; Vegas is super pedestrian-friendly in its tourist-heavy areas. The Strip is super walkable, though better served in moderation — an ironic statement for Vegas. Keep in mind that, for at least five months of the year, the average high temperatures sit in the 90s and 100s. If you're visiting anytime from May to September, you may want to rethink your plan to get everywhere on foot.

The Las Vegas Strip is much larger than it seems

When plotting your Vegas adventure, consider what you want to do while choosing your hotel. If you're staying along The Strip, it's important to know that the boulevard is 4.2-miles long end to end. So, if you decide to stay at Luxor or Mandalay Bay at one end, you'll need at least 90 minutes to hoof it to the Sahara at the other end. Over the course of a day, four miles isn't much, though you probably won't want to walk the entire Strip all at once more than once. 

Walking everywhere just isn't practical. According to the 2023 Las Vegas tourism statistics from Gitnux , the average visitor walks five miles daily in Vegas. For first-timers who insist on walking everywhere, walking the Strip a day alone would nearly double that number. We highly suggest packing comfortable shoes for those mega-walking days, and you can make room for them by using some game-changing packing hacks .

Something else to consider is that while you're technically walking along the boulevard path, walking The Strip isn't always a flat line. You may get turned around going up and down pedestrian walkways or be otherwise detoured. When folks say this part of Vegas is walkable, they mean that you can walk to get to certain amenities like food or stores, not necessarily that it is convenient. 

Take advantage of the public transit in Las Vegas

Remember how it can take 90 minutes to walk the entire Vegas Strip? Well, aboard the Monorail, it only takes about 15 minutes. Despite all the images of folks walking the Boulevard from popular media, Vegas also has several public transit options to take advantage of as well. Besides the monorail, you also have the city's buses, which run all day long. You could even hop a ride from the Deuce — Vegas' double-decker buses that run up and down The Strip.

Although the hours are much shorter than the city buses, the City of Las Vegas also operates free downtown shuttles you can utilize. Rather than servicing The Strip, these shuttles take you around other parts of the city's downtown. From the bustling old-style Vegas area known as the Fremont Street Experience to other activities like the Mob Museum and Brewery Row. When in doubt, you can always rely on rideshare or taxi services in Vegas to get you where you need to go. Be sure to have those downloaded along with  the other apps for making your travel plans before you leave for your vacation.

Like the neverending entertainment options, Las Vegas has many ways to get around. When your feet get tired of schlepping the concrete, or it's just too darn hot to make the walk work, you can still see the city in style. Just with a little less pavement pounding on your part. 

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• >> Housing

How many homes are being built in Las Vegas right now?

Zonda statistics show a bounceback in housing starts on the residential side as the market finally gets off the pandemic roller coaster ride.

New home construction in Clark County appears to be returning back to pre-pandemic levels, according to new statistics from residential construction data company Zonda.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, 9,600 single-family residences broke ground, a drop from other quarters over the last few years, according to Zonda, which tracks new home construction or starts. The peak for construction was in the first quarter of 2022 when work started on 13,229 homes.

Evan Forrest, a vice president with Zonda, said homebuilding in Clark County, and the rest of the country, is starting to level out after a few years of rapid activity during the pandemic fueled by historically low mortgage rates, remote work and more.

“It’s gone back to a little bit more of a normalization here,” he said. “We just hit such a low in some of our recent months here and now we’ve increased 15 percent in basically the last two quarters (to end 2023) in terms of how much annual (construction) starts have gone back up,” he said.

Residential construction starts were below 9,000 homes for each of the first three quarters of 2023, but Forrest said data moving forward into 2024 shows a return to more normal numbers of between 9,000 and 10,000 starts per quarter.

New build construction stats for all of Southern Nevada tell a similar picture and Amanda Moss, the senior director of government affairs for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, said in a previous interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that a new equilibrium is emerging post-pandemic .

“This market is ever-changing and ‘not normal’ is our normal,” she said. “Since COVID, we have seen a relatively stable market of at or slightly above 11,000 permits (per year). Despite a much higher demand, skyrocketing population growth, and incredible economic development, given all our challenges, our industry is resilient.”

One area seeing a significant increase in the Las Vegas Valley is build-to-rent homes, as construction hit a 10-year high last year, according to a RentCafe study. Close to 500 units were completed last year, which was a 506 percent increase from 2022.

The RentCafe study noted that build-to-rent construction numbers have been increasing nationwide for the past five years.

“Las Vegas expanded its build-to-rent during the post-pandemic years twice as much than between 2014 and 2018, delivering new homes for rent for three years in a row,” the study said.“This led the metro to boast the eighth largest inventory of build-to-rent in the nation.”

A Construction Coverage study also found that between 2012 and 2022, Clark County’s housing stock increased by 12 percent, however its population grew an estimated 16 percent, while the median price for a single-family home shot up 236 percent. Clark County did have a larger percentage increase in terms of overall housing stock than the national average (8.5 percent), dating back to 2022.

U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that new residential construction is down from March up until April 16 of this year by 14.7 percent, however it is up 12.7 percent from February of this year. This is also a 4.3 percent drop from March of last year when 1.3 million homes were started across the country during that one month period.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at [email protected].

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Trump's hush money trial

College protests across the US

April jobs report

April 27, 2024 - Campus protest updates

By Tori B. Powell, Aditi Sangal, Nouran Salahieh, Dalia Faheid, Lauren Said-Moorhouse , Laura Smith-Spark , Adrienne Vogt and Matt Meyer, CNN

Our live coverage of the protests has moved here .

USC professor to CNN: University officials have failed students and faculty

From CNN’s Amanda Musa

University of Southern California administrators failed students and faculty who are encouraged by the institution to speak their minds, said  Mike Ananny , PHD, an associate professor of communications and journalism at USC who recently criticized university leaders over their handling of campus demonstrations.

On Thursday, Ananny wrote an open   letter appearing in the student publication, the  Daily Trojan , stating he no longer trusts the school's provost, Andrew Guzman, and its president, Carol Folt, after witnessing how they handled what he called peaceful protests, especially on Wednesday.

Nearly 100 people  were arrested after the university ordered protestors at the campus' Alumni Park to disperse, CNN previously reported.

“Peaceful protestors were at the university expressing their speech rights and doing all the things that we ask our students to do,” he said. “We want them to be engaged and passionate citizens who are taking care of their world.” 

Ananny cited the university’s decision last week to cancel Asna Tabassum's valedictorian commencement speech due to safety concerns as the catalyst for the pro-Palestinian protests. This week, the university also canceled its main stage commencement ceremony set for next month – further dismantling trust between administrators and the university community, Ananny claims.

“The university needs to trust its students, trust its faculty to do the work that we know how to do,” he said. “We know how to have these conversations – let us have them.”

Ananny says he has not received a response from Folt to his open letter.

Here’s some of the latest from major US universities as protests continue

From CNN staff

Pro-Palestinian protests are ongoing at major universities across the US. Several schools have called on authorities to remove demonstrators and more arrests have been made Saturday.

A central demand of protesters is for universities divest from Israel-linked companies that they say are profiting from the war in Gaza.

Here's what you should know:

More arrests and warnings:

• Police detained about 100 people as officials cleared "an unauthorized encampment" on Northeastern University 's campus in Boston on Saturday morning, according to a university spokesperson. Student organizers are disputing some of the school's claims about the encampment.
• Officers arrested at least 23 people on Saturday after a protest encampment formed at Indiana University Bloomington , according to the school's police department. Video from the scene showed officers in riot gear trying to separate demonstrators with their arms linked.
• At Arizona State University , police arrested 69 people for trespassing after an “unauthorized encampment” was set up, according to a release from the university.
• The University of Illinois warned of consequences , including arrests and interim suspensions, for those taking part in on-campus demonstrations that began Friday morning. 

Other schools saw relative calm today:

• The campus of Emory University in Atlanta was quieter Saturday, following the arrest of protesters and at least two Emory professors Thursday in clashes with police. The arrests are now the subject of a faculty movement pressuring the school's president to resign.
• Things were also " relatively calm " on Columbia University 's campus Saturday, especially compared to tense protests off campus earlier this week, according to CNN's Polo Sandoval. Negotiations are still ongoing between protest leaders and university administration, but organizers don't expect an update until Monday.

Northeastern protesters deny university's account of "professional organizers" at encampment

From CNN's Sharif Paget, Michelle Watson and Isabel Rosales

A Northeastern University student organization,  Huskies for a Free Palestine , says it was not infiltrated by outside organizers, as school officials had said after shutting down a protest encampment at the Boston campus.

About 100 people were detained at the encampment, though the school said those with a valid school ID were released and will face school disciplinary proceedings rather than legal action. The school said in a statement that the group had been "infiltrated by professional organizers with no affiliation to Northeastern."

"We were not 'infiltrated' in any way, shape or form by 'professional protestors', no one hired, it was comprised primarily of students," the student group said in a statement Saturday.

Claims about hate speech: The organization is also disputing the university's statement that the "use of virulent antisemitic slurs, including 'Kill the Jews,'" was among the reasons for shutting the protest down.

"The only people hurling antisemitic slurs last night were Zionist counter-protestors attempting to instigate our peaceful encampment. Despite this, the university exploited this moment to lie about our encampment and justify the brutal arrest of over 100 students,” Huskies for a Free Palestine said in its statement.

Videos shared with CNN show what appears to be at least two counter-protesters holding an Israeli flag attempting to provoke the crowd to chant, “Kill the Jews.”

After yelling the antisemitic remark, one of them is heard saying, "Anyone on board? Anyone on board?" Some protesters responded with boos.

Asked for any additional comment, the school's vice president of communications, Renata Nyul, said "the fact that the phrase ‘Kill the Jews’ was shouted on our campus is not in dispute," citing news reports and video from the scene.

"Any suggestion that repulsive antisemitic comments are sometimes acceptable depending on the context is reprehensible," Nyul said. "That language has no place on any university campus."

Faculty group criticizes response: In a statement Saturday, Northeastern University Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine also spoke out against the university's handling of the protest.

"We were shocked to learn that the Northeastern administration issued a statement claiming that the university's decision to arrest those in the encampment was triggered by an antisemitic statement allegedly made by protesters," the group said.

"Numerous videos that have been posted online, along with eye-witness accounts from a WGBH reporter and others, make it clear that the phrase in question -- 'Kill the Jews' -- was uttered by a pro-Israel counter-demonstrator who was seeking to provoke the students at the encampment."

23 people arrested at Indiana University Bloomington, police say

Officers arrested at least 23 people on Saturday after a protest encampment formed at Indiana University Bloomington, according to the school's police department.

Police said a group of protesters put up tents and canopies Friday night "with the stated intention to occupy the university space indefinitely," and that the unapproved "temporary or permanent structures" violated school policy.

Video from the school's student-run newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student , showed officers in riot gear carrying shields and batons as they attempted to clear out the encampment. Police can be seen shoving demonstrators as they try to break through interlocked arms, and at least four officers are seen dragging a person away from the camp.

In its statement, the Indiana University Police Department said it approached the demonstrators in the school's outdoor Dunn Meadow area around noon ET, along with Indiana State Police. Authorities say they gave demonstrators “six verbal warnings” to remove the encampment, before detaining those who did not remove their structures.

Police said the 23 people arrested face "charges ranging from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement." Police said they had not confirmed how many of those arrested were directly affiliated with the university.

CNN has reached out to state police and the Monroe County Sheriff’s office.

In a  post  Saturday, the university said, “IU encourages and respects free speech, including the right to peacefully protest and demonstrate,” but said students, faculty, staff and visitors are expected to comply with school policy and state law.

CNN's Sharif Paget contributed reporting to this post.

This post has been updated with details from a video taken at the scene.

Police arrest 69 people from encampment at Arizona State University

From CNN’s Rebekah Riess

Early Saturday morning, Arizona State University Police arrested 69 people for trespassing after an “unauthorized encampment” was set up, according to a release from the university.

According to the school, a group of people, “most of whom were not ASU students, faculty or staff,” had created an encampment and their demonstration lasted until 11 p.m. local time on Friday, when the group was instructed “multiple times” to disperse. 

Those who refused to leave after multiple warnings, were arrested and charged with criminal trespass, the release said.

The university said while encampments are prohibited on ASU property, “lawful demonstrations” are allowed to take place on campus, except between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

“While the university will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of speech, ASU’s first priority is to create a safe and secure environment that supports teaching and learning,” the statement read.

Three people were also arrested on the ASU campus Friday in connection with the encampment, CNN previously reported.

All campus operations have "returned to normal," Northeastern University says

From CNN's Michelle Watson

Northeastern University campus operations are back to normal and the school's quad has been "fully secured" as of Saturday afternoon, the university said in a  post  on X and in an email to CNN.

Police detained about 100 people this morning as officials cleared "an unauthorized encampment" set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Northeastern’s campus in Boston, CNN previously reported.

The school said in its update that the process was complete by 11:30 a.m. ET.

Emory University calm Saturday after violent arrests

From CNN's Rafael Romo

The campus of Emory University in Atlanta was calm Saturday, following the arrest of protesters and at least two Emory professors Thursday in clashes with police.

On Friday, tenured Emory faculty pushed for a "no confidence" vote of Emory President Gregory Fenves in the wake of the violent arrests.

One of the faculty members who had been arrested — Noelle McAfee, chair of Emory’s philosophy department — told CNN that university administrators made the problem worse on Thursday when they called in the police.

She said police told her to step back as she stood near students who were being arrested.

“Here I am — now, not just a professor but a human being — watching this child being pummeled. I said ‘No’ and I stood there. But I stood there in a way that was non-confrontational. I just stood there. And then I’m arrested.”

Fenves said in a letter Friday that ahead of the arrests there were “highly organized, outside protestors” who came to the campus in vans to "construct an encampment, and overtake the Quad."

But students and faculty who participated in the protests recalled events differently, saying the protesters were mostly students and people affiliated with the university.

One such student, Martin Berg, a third-year law student who had been arrested, put it this way: "What I saw was unprovoked and severe brutality exacted by police that Emory University had allowed to come on campus and assault their students. The message that the president of the University sent regarding outside agitators … was a lie."

"The majority of us (in jail) were associated with the university in one way or another," he added.

George Washington University pro-Palestinian protesters block street but remain peaceful

From CNN’s Avery Lotz and Gabe Cohen

Protesters at George Washington University in Washington, DC, are now blocking a street.

Around a dozen tents spilled from University Yard — the grassy area where the encampment was initially erected earlier this week — onto H Street NW, where a sign that reads "Liberated Zone Solidarity Camp" stretches between two trees.

The group of protesters has grown since Friday, according to CNN journalists who have been at the scene.

The protesters, who remain peaceful, were chanting, "Students you are not alone. This campus is a freedom zone."

One chalk-written message on H Street read: “A Free Palestine in our Lifetime."

The tents on H Street, a public area, puts them in a zone overseen by the DC Metropolitan Police.

DC Metropolitan Police remain in the area, and the U-Yard park is cordoned off by metal barricades and tape.

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