Households in Laughlin have lower incomes than those in 92% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Laughlin for work; outside it, Las Vegas is the main destination (10%, 84 miles). 22.1% of residents live below the poverty line, where Nevada as a whole has 12.4%. Jobs and income earn Laughlin D−; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Laughlin: the figures worth knowing
Many of the people who work in Laughlin live in another state
Bullhead City, AZ (44%), Fort Mohave, AZ (11%) and Golden Valley, AZ (3%) are among the top places Laughlin’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 60% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
Laughlin’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Laughlin is Las Vegas, 84 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (251) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A lot of Laughlin workers cross into Arizona
27% of Laughlin workers work outside Nevada, most of them in Arizona, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Laughlin is where the jobs are
Laughlin has 5,964 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Laughlin workers earn over $40,000 a year
36% of Laughlin’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Laughlin’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Laughlin is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #41 of 42 in Nevada. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Laughlin’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Laughlin could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Where Laughlin’s workforce comes from
Where Laughlin clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How many miles Laughlin commutes
About 37% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The daily flow of workers through Laughlin
On a workday 1,408 residents head out to work, 1,141 work right here, and 4,823 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Laughlin on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Laughlin
5,964 jobs are based in Laughlin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Laughlin, 2013 → 2023: 7,501 → 5,964. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Laughlin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Laughlin: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Laughlin workers work from home, vs 12% across Nevada. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,512 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Nevada: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Laughlin is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Laughlin is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #26 of 42 in Nevada. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.6% across Nevada, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,672 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.4% of Laughlin households have no vehicle (Nevada 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Laughlin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Laughlin and other U.S. towns of 6,200 to 11,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 622 | Johnson Lane NV | 6,467 | $121K | 3.3% | 0.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 925 | Cold Springs NV | 11,321 | $94K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,322 | Incline Village NV | 9,272 | $167K | 6.0% | 3.9% | 41% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,846 | Bastrop LA | 8,908 | $33K | 40.1% | 15.1% | 27% | D− |
| 2,847 | Rockingham NC | 8,815 | $37K | 30.6% | 11.3% | 20% | D− |
| 2,848 | Laughlin NV | 8,789 | $46K | 22.1% | 7.1% | 45% | D− |
| 2,849 | Osceola AR | 6,450 | $46K | 26.2% | 10.5% | 31% | D− |
| 2,850 | Winslow AZ | 8,464 | $58K | 29.8% | 8.9% | 42% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Laughlin, the top three, the last and three more from Nevada.
Laughlin and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Bullhead City (9%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Laughlin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laughlin | – | D− | B+ | 21 min | $45,685 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Laughlin’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Laughlin: questions
What is the median household income in Laughlin?
$45,685 (±$4,536) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,260 across Nevada and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Laughlin?
22.1%, against 12.4% across Nevada and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Laughlin?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Nevada and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Laughlin work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Las Vegas (10%, 84 mi), Bullhead City (9%, 4 mi), Henderson (4%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Laughlin walkable?
Laughlin is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Laughlin without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Laughlin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Laughlin
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.