For this answer, we had to rely on data derived from a number of different sources, which used various compilation criteria and ranged from the first quarter of 2006 through the third quarter of 2009. Certainly, the number of employees has changed, sometimes drastically, over the past several years. So, although we’re pretty confident in the top ten entries and the order of the top five, six through ten might be a little out of date and the margin of error for the number of employees might be in the 5%-10% range.
Clark County’s largest employer by far, and that includes the gaming companies, is the School District. It’s the fifth largest school district in the U.S., with upwards of 35,000 employees.
Number two on the list, again including casino-hotels, is Clark County itself. Nearly 10,000 people are employed in the county’s administrative and legislative offices.
In third place is Nellis Air Force Base. This was a tough one to figure, since it employs both permanent and temporary military personnel, along with civilian and "non-appropriated service" staff, and spans both Clark and Nye counties. But as near as we can tell, a little less than 10,000 people work at Nellis.
Number four on the list is the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, with approximately 6,000 sworn and civilian employees.
A close fifth is the federal Department of Energy, with its nearly 6,000 government employees, administrating and regulating communications, gas, and electric utilities, as well as working at the Nevada Test Site, which includes the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository.
In sixth and seventh places (too close to call) are the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the State of Nevada, both with nearly 5,000 employees in Clark County.
Eighth is the City of Las Vegas, with 3,850 administrative and legislative workers.
The University Medical Center of Southern Nevada ranks ninth in the top ten, employing approximately 3,700 staff.
Though nearly 1,100 of them are part-time, they’re still employees, so the City of Henderson takes tenth place with 2,900 or so workers.
