Introductory Sections

Introduction and Executive Summary
The first main section of the report is prior to this section, the Preface. The preface gives the reader information about the purpose of this document and the contact information for those who wrote and helped fund this work. Moving on from this point, readers will gain a broader and deeper understanding of the communities through in-depth data and analysis.

Data Sources
The next section is an explanation of the Data Sources used throughout the report. For any questions, concerns, or comments regarding the data or methodology used, please review that section, or contact the authors via the information on the Preface page.

County Map
The County Map gives a look at the full county, as well as the specific cities and towns this report delves into.

Housing Assistance Programs
Here is a description of various Housing Assistance programs found in the state, eligibility requirements, and recent assistance counts per the Nevada Rural Housing Authority. An active inventory of properties with housing assistance is given at the end of this section, with data from the Nevada Housing Division.

Data Sections

The biggest sections of the report are the quantitative backing, otherwise known as the data. This is separated into two main sections: Demographic, Social, and Economic Characteristics and Housing Supply Characteristics.

Demographic, Social, and Economic Characteristics
This includes general socioeconomic data characteristics, such as population, age educational attainment, poverty, and employment.

Demographic and social characteristic data provides a basis for understanding communities currently, in the past, and projecting into the future. This could include growing diversity, aging populations, poverty, education and more. Economic characteristics follow the same lead with unemployment, income, industry, and occupation information. The conglomeration of this data paints the picture of who lives in the local communities and can give a quantitative backing to future decision-making.

‘More housing’ can often be cited as what is needed to fix a housing crisis, however this doesn’t help in every situation. The demographics of a community can let us know what sort of housing is needed. Is there a large, aging population? Is income lower or higher in the region? Do households generally have children or are multigenerational? These questions can help lead to finding the specific housing needs of a community.

Housing Supply Characteristics
Housing Supply includes characteristics specific to housing structures such as when housing was built, the type of structure, and more.
This gives the region’s current housing status and inventory. A straight count of housing can be deceiving. If the units were built in the 1940s, for instance, are they still viable to be lived in? What repairs are necessary? Would it be accessible to an older generation or those with mobility issues? What size of housing is in the area? A one-bedroom won’t be of much use to a family of four while a four-bedroom unit could incur unneeded costs to a retired couple. Only by first knowing the local supply can planning for future developments actually take place.