Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Tonopah’s best subject grade is an A for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for health. 34% of working residents work locally in Tonopah, above both Nevada’s towns (17%) and U.S. towns (8%). No town in Nevada scores lower than Tonopah on health. Tonopah is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. Tonopah’s trail density is 7.7 miles per square mile, against 2.0 in Nevada’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include George A. Bartlett House and Bass Building. Tonopah has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Tonopah beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Mizpah Hotel| Widest gap | Tonopah | NV |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.5% | 11.6% |
Census counts: 1,375 in 1950, a peak of 3,616 in 1990, 2,179 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1901 and 2 maps from 1960 on.
45 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Nevada), ordered by how far Tonopah is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Tonopah is unincorporated, so Nye County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Tonopah.
The typical Tonopah home is worth about $157,000, down 3.3% in a year, 64% below the Nevada typical home. The median rent in Tonopah is $843 a month.
| Tonopah | Nevada towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $843 a month | $1,410 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 63% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Nye school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonopah Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 140 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NV on state tests and graduation
24% of Tonopah adults smoke cigarettes. No town among the 43 in Nevada we compare has a higher share of adults who have obesity than Tonopah. 15% of Tonopah adults binge drink.
| Tonopah | Nevada towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 33% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Tonopah | NV |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.5% | 11.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.3% | 7.1% |
| More smokers | 23.5% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
About one in 3 of Tonopah’s working residents works in town. Tonopah’s average trip to work is 33 minutes. Since 2013, Tonopah has added 1,202 jobs, to 2,303 in 2023.
| Tonopah | Nevada towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.9% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Tonopah has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 89° and January nights drop to 24°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
71 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Among 43 Nevada towns, just 3 have a lower share of conserved land than Tonopah.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Highland Park | — | 5 |
| 2. Pocket Park | — | 1 |
| 3. Barsanti Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Tonopah; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Tonopah residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Nevada.
2,478 counted in 2010 and 2,179 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
45 places in Tonopah on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Tonopah.
Census-designate place in Nye County, Nevada, United States
Tonopah ( TOHN-ə-pah, Shoshoni language: Tonampaa) is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Nye County, Nevada, United States. Nicknamed the Queen of the Silver Camps for its mining-rich history, it is now primarily a tourism-based resort city, notable for attractions like the Mizpah Hotel and the Clown Motel. Tonopah is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95, approximately midway between Las Vegas and Reno. In the 2020 census, the population was 2,179. The census-designated place (CDP) of Tonopah has a total area of 16.2 square miles (42 km2), all land.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 2.6 years of the area's median household income ($60,714 across the Pahrump, NV area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
7 notable people were born here, including Hugh Bradner and Thomas Joseph Connolly.
