Swing-state Nevada voters consider soaring housing prices a top issue ahead of the 2024 election, a challenge for the Biden campaign as it trails former President Donald Trump in some polls.
Since 2016, home sale prices in Nevada’s Clark County have risen by 50%, and median rental prices in the county, which is home to Las Vegas, are still 30% higher than they were before the pandemic, according to Apartment List.
A University of Nevada at Las Vegas study also found that seven of the 10 most common jobs in Las Vegas don’t pay enough to afford a studio apartment; and a recent poll found that 51% of Nevada residents considered housing to be very important going into the presidential election, more than issues including abortion, climate change, the Russia-Ukraine war, or guns.
Polling suggests the housing crisis could have a pivotal impact on the 2024 presidential election. In early May, a Redfin survey found that 53% of U.S. homeowners and renters said housing affordability would affect how they vote in 2024, while 64% of respondents said housing affordability made them feel negative about the economy.
President Joe Biden’s latest visit to the Silver State came in March when he touted the $1 billion his American Rescue Plan has provided toward Nevada’s housing crisis. At the time, he conceded, “For too many people that dream of having a good home, this still feels out of reach.”
As thousands of newcomers have streamed into Nevada from neighboring California, the Sun Belt state has seen the costs of home ownership escalate under a strained housing supply.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost 158,000 people moved to Nevada from California between 2020 and 2024, making up 43% of all new residents in the state. Additionally, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles states that approximately 250,000 Californians moved to Nevada between 2015 and 2019, which was more than any other state.
A 2022 study by the Bipartisan Policy Center found that while Nevada’s statewide population had increased by nearly 434,000 residents from 2010 to 2020, the housing supply had grown by only about 131,000 homes.
Nevada’s housing crisis is being mirrored nationwide. While inflation remains the top economic concern for American voters, the housing market has edged its way into voters’ top tissues. Mortgage rates have soared as the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates restrictive, housing prices have increased because of a lack of supply, and Zillow reported that home buyers in 2024 need 80% more income to purchase a home than they did in 2020.
In another visit to Las Vegas in early February, Biden touted his commitment to unions. The visit was part of a broader strategy to shore up support with a key part of his base in Nevada: union workers. Biden has been relentless in these efforts, even making history as the first president to join members of the United Auto Workers in the picket line last year during their strike. His strategy in the Silver State, home to one of the highest percentages of union members in the country, appears no different.
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In 2020, Nevada played a pivotal role in helping Biden clinch the presidency. However, the latest polling shows Biden trailing Trump by 12 percentage points in the Silver State, while another poll shows them tied.
In 2020, Biden only won Nevada by a few points, 50.1% to Trump’s 47.7%.
