Las Vegas Visitor Volumes Closing in on Pre-Pandemic Levels

Las Vegas visitor volumes are starting to approach pre-pandemic levels, as July marked the seventh consecutive month-over-month gain. Las Vegas hosted roughly 3.3 million visitors in July, up 11.2% from the previous month and up 130% from the same month one year earlier. Compared to the pre-pandemic level from July 2019, the number of visitors to Las Vegas was still down only about 10%. With more people visiting Las Vegas in recent months, jobs are bouncing back. The Las Vegas market added 82,700 jobs in the year-ending July 2021, with 32,200 of those positions returning to the Leisure/Hospitality Services industry. In addition, the market’s 9.5% job growth rate over the past year was the leading performance among the nation’s 50 largest apartment markets. Despite the recent improvement, the Las Vegas job base still has a way to go before a full recovery. As of July, the overall job base was 9% below pre-pandemic levels, the second-worst outcome among the top 50 markets, behind only Orlando. Jobs in Leisure/Hospitality Services, the hardest hit employment sector in Las Vegas during the pandemic, are still down 23% from pre-pandemic norms.