thumb|upright=1.15|2017 Reveille Wild Horse Release by BLM, about 50 miles east of Tonopah and 12 miles south of [[Warm Springs, Nevada]]
thumb|upright|Gold specimen from the [[Round Mountain Gold Mine]]
Nye County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,591. Its county seat is Tonopah. At , Nye is Nevada's largest county by area and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, behind San Bernardino County, California and Coconino County, Arizona.
Nye County comprises the Pahrump micropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Las Vegas-Henderson combined statistical area.
In 2010, Nevada's center of population was in southern Nye County, near Yucca Mountain.
The Nevada Test Site and proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository are in southwestern Nye County, and are the focus of a great deal of controversy. The federal government manages 92% of the county's land. A 1987 attempt to stop the nuclear waste site resulted in the creation of Bullfrog County, Nevada, which was dissolved two years later.
The county has several environmentally sensitive areas, including Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the White River Valley, several Great Basin sky islands, and part of Death Valley National Park. Visitors to Death Valley often stay at Beatty or Amargosa Valley.
Nye County is one of 10 Nevada counties where prostitution is legal. The county has no incorporated cities. The seat of government in Tonopah is from Pahrump, where about 86% of the county's population resides.
History
Nye County was established during the American Civil War in 1864 and named after James W. Nye, the first governor of the Nevada Territory and later a U.S. Senator after it was admitted as a state. The first county seat was Ione in 1864, followed by Belmont in 1867, and finally Tonopah in 1905.
The county's first boom came in the early 20th century, when Rhyolite and Tonopah, as well as Goldfield in nearby Esmeralda County, had gold- and silver-mining booms. In 1906, Goldfield had 30,000 residents, Tonopah nearly 10,000, and Rhyolite peaked at about 10,000. These cities were linked by the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad.
After the boom died, Nye County withered. By 1910, the population had plummeted to about 7,500 before sinking to near 3,000 in the middle of the century. With development at the military test site and increasing employment and resources, the population stabilized. After the 1990s, when Pahrump became a bedroom community for Las Vegas, it had high rates of population growth.
Periodically, discussions have arisen of moving the county seat to Pahrump, or splitting off the southern portion of the county, but neither of these ideas appears to have sufficient support in the county or state government.
From 1987 to 1989, Bullfrog County, Nevada, was split off from Nye County to form a separate political region. Its population was zero; its creation was an attempt to stop a nuclear waste storage facility from being built in the region.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.09%) is water. The highest and most topographically prominent mountain in the county is Mount Jefferson at .
Nye County is in south-central Nevada. It is Nevada's largest county and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, after San Bernardino County in California and Coconino County in Arizona. Nye County's land area of is larger than that of Maryland, Hawaii, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and larger than the combined area of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware. Of this vast land area, only , or just over 7%, is private land; most of it is public land managed by the federal government. Before the Treaty of Ruby Valley, the whole area was controlled by the Western Shoshone people, who say they never ceded territory here. According to the United States Census Bureau the county's Census Tract 9805, with a land area of , comprising the Nevada Test Site and Nye County's portion of the Nevada Test and Training Range, is the country's largest census tract that has no resident population (as of the 2000 census).
Las Vegas, in Clark County, is southeast of Yucca Mountain. Many Pahrump residents commute each way to Las Vegas via Nevada State Route 160, which for much of its length is a four-lane divided highway.
Adjacent counties
- Churchill County - northwest
- Lander County - north
- Eureka County - north
- White Pine County - northeast
- Lincoln County - east
- Clark County - southeast
- Esmeralda County - west
- Mineral County - west
- Inyo County, California - south
National protected areas
- Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
- Death Valley National Park (part)
- Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (part)
- Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (part)
Transportation
Public transit
In 2018, Nye county launched its own transit service for the town of Pahrump named Pahrump Valley Public Transportation. In 2023, Pahrump Valley Public Transportation launch demand response service to Beatty and Amargosa Valley
For Senior Transportation/Paratransit transportation services is directly provided by Nye County Transportation Services department
Major highways
Nye County has a long stretch of U.S. Route 95, the main road connecting Las Vegas with the state capital, Carson City. Beatty and Tonopah both rely heavily on through traffic to sustain their economies. As of 2006, an average of 2,000 cars daily traveled U.S. 95 near Tonopah.
- 20px Interstate 11 (Future)
- 20px U.S. Route 6
- 20px U.S. Route 95
- 20px State Route 160
- 20px State Route 267
- 20px State Route 318
- 20px State Route 361
- 20px State Route 372
- 20px State Route 373
- 20px State Route 374
- 20px State Route 375
- 20px State Route 376
- 20px State Route 377
- 20px State Route 379
- 20px State Route 844