Paradise is an unincorporated town and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (t ...

, United States, adjacent to the city of

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth-most-populous CDP in the United States; if it were an incorporated city, it would be the fifth-largest in Nevada. As an unincorporated town, it is governed by the

Clark County Commission The Clark County Commission is the governmental organization that governs and runs Clark County, Nevada, providing services to the unincorporated areas. Its offices are located at the Clark County Government Center in Downtown Las Vegas. Compos ...

with input from the Paradise Town Advisory Board. Paradise contains

Harry Reid International Airport Harry Reid International Airport , formerly known as McCarran International Airport, is the primary international airport serving the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located south of downtown Las Vega ...

, the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

(UNLV), the majority of the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...

, and most of the tourist attractions in the Las Vegas area (excluding

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

). However, all Paradise addresses, as well as other unincorporated areas in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

, have "Las Vegas" addresses.

History

The southern part of the

was referred to as Paradise Valley as early as 1910, owing to a high

water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...

that made the land particularly fertile for farming. County commissioners established a Paradise school district in 1914. Las Vegas Suburbs

In 1950, mayor Ernie Cragin of Las Vegas sought to annex the

, which was unincorporated territory, in order to expand the city's tax base to fund his ambitious building agenda and pay down the city's rising debt. A group of casino executives, led by Gus Greenbaum of the

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

, lobbied the county commissioners for town status, which would prevent the city from annexing the land without the commission's approval. The commission voted to create the unincorporated town of Paradise on December 8, 1950. The town encompassed a strip wide and long, from the southern city limits of Las Vegas to just south of the Flamingo. The town board initially consisted of five casino managers, chaired by Greenbaum. A month after its establishment, the town was expanded to include the residential areas of Paradise Valley, giving it a total area of . Months later, however, it was reported that county officials had determined that the town had not been properly established, because the petition for the town's formation had an insufficient number of signatures and because it had violated a state law forbidding formation of a town spanning multiple school districts. On August 20, 1951, county commissioners accepted petitions to create two new towns covering the area of the putative town. Town "A" of Paradise included the areas that lay within a Las Vegas school district, extending from the city limits to a point one mile south, while Town "B" included the areas within the Paradise school district. In 1953, Town A was renamed as

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, and Town B became known simply as Paradise. In 1975, Nevada enacted a law that would have incorporated Paradise (along with Sunrise Manor and Winchester) into the City of Las Vegas. Before it could take effect, however, the bill was struck down as unconstitutional by the Nevada Supreme Court.

MGM Grand fire of 1980

The deadliest fire that occurred in the entire

was the MGM Grand fire on November 21, 1980. In the early morning hours, a deli counter had an electrical short that resulted in a fire in the walls of the hotel. The MGM Grand was built to the fire code of 1973, which did not require sprinkler systems, so sprinklers were only installed in the kitchens and theater. The fire traveled in the walls of the hotel damaging the fire alarm system. As the fire burned, toxic smoke entered the ventilation system traveling to the rooms of the hotel. Guests broke windows to get fresh air, while waiting for rescue from firemen. Eighty-five people died in the fire, with two more dying later, bringing the death toll to 87 people. In addition to those who died, nearly 700 people were injured in the fire. This fire contributed to a widespread change in the requirements for fire safety in hotels.

Las Vegas shooting

On October 1, 2017, the deadliest

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

in the United States by a lone gunman occurred in Paradise when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Strip from his 32nd-floor suite in the

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus Enterprises and complete ...

hotel. He fired more than 1,000 rounds, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413 others. The ensuing panic brought the total number of injured to approximately 867. About an hour later, he was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Cybertruck explosion

On January 1, 2025, at approximately 8:39 a.m. (PST), an IED exploded in a Tesla Cybertruck parked outside the main entrance of the

Trump International Hotel Las Vegas The Trump International Hotel Las Vegas is a 64-story hotel, condominium, and timeshare located on Fashion Show Drive in Paradise, Nevada, United States, named for part owner Donald Trump. It is located down the street from Wynn Las Vegas, b ...

in Paradise. The driver and alleged perpetrator was Matthew Alan Livelsberger, an American-born, active-duty United States Army Special Forces soldier from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was on leave from overseas duty and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head immediately before the explosion. Seven bystanders were injured by the blast. Authorities found that the vehicle contained firework mortars and gas canisters, which had fueled the explosion and fire. Per a note from Livelsberger's "the explosion was a stunt meant to be a 'wake up call' for the nation’s troubles".

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the

(CDP) of Paradise (which may not coincide exactly with the town boundaries) has a total area of , all of it land. The official town boundaries are bordered by Desert Inn Road to the north, Nellis Boulevard to the east, Sunset Road to the south and

Decatur Boulevard Decatur Boulevard is a major north–south section line arterial in the Las Vegas metropolitan area located on the west side of the city. Route Decatur Boulevard is situated in the west of Las Vegas and runs for roughly 25 miles along a north ...

to the west. There is a southern finger between Bermuda Road and Eastern Avenue south to Silverado Ranch Boulevard. South of Russell Road, the eastern border stairsteps on a rough 45-degree angle toward the corner of Eastern and Robindale Road, and there is an additional finger surrounding Interstate 215 east to St. Rose Parkway.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 191,238 people residing in Paradise. The racial makeup was 42.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 13.4%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.2% Native American, 9.8% Asian, 1.2%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 15.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino residents made up 33.5% of the population, and 36.6% of the population was

non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

. As of the

of 2010, there were 223,167 people residing in Paradise. The racial makeup was 59.8%

, 10.0%

, 0.8% Native American, 9.5% Asian, 1.0%

, and 5.5% from two or more races.

or Latino residents made up 31.2% of the population, and 46.3% of the population was

. As of the

of 2000, there were 186,070 people, 77,209 households, and 43,314 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 85,398 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 72.51%

, 6.59%

, 0.77% Native American, 6.52% Asian, 0.59%

, 8.37% from other races, and 4.65% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 23.47% of the population. In 2020 there were 80,732 households, out of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 29.4% had a female householder with no partner present, and 30.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. In the CDP, 21.4% was under the age of 19, 7% from 20 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.6 males. For every 100 females age 20 and over, there were 105.4 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $48,032. The median income for a family was $61,743 versus $72,654 for married couple families. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $68,858. 16.8% of the population and 11.8% of families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. 15.5% of males were living below the poverty line versus 18.2% of females. 19.3% of families with children under the age of 18 and 5.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Places of interest

* ''Akhob'' by

James Turrell James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. He is considered the "master of light" often creating art installations that mix natural light with artificial color through openings ...

Allegiant Stadium Allegiant Stadium is a domed multi-purpose stadium located in Paradise, Nevada, southwest of adjacent Las Vegas. Opened in 2020, it is the home field of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of Nevada ...

* The Art of Richard MacDonald * Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens * Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art * Bliss Dance * Bodies: The Exhibition *

High Roller A high roller, also referred to as a whale or cheetah, is a gambler who consistently wagers large amounts of money. High rollers often receive lavish " comps" from casinos to entice them onto the gambling floors, such as free private jet transfe ...

* Las Vegas Little Theater * Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra * Liberace Museum * Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art * Martin Lawrence Galleries * National Atomic Testing Museum * Nevada Ballet Theatre * P3 Art Studio *

T-Mobile Arena T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International ...

* Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition * Shark Reef *

Sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

* Welcome to Las Vegas sign

Education

The Clark County School District serves Paradise, as well as the rest of Clark County. The township is home to the

. (see aircraft symbol for the airport)

Transportation

(formerly McCarran International Airport) is in Paradise CDP. Paradise also has multiple casinos connected to the

Las Vegas Monorail The Las Vegas Monorail is a automated monorail mass transit system located adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It connects several large casinos in the unincorporated communities of Paradise, Nevada, Paradis ...

. The monorail ends at the MGM Grand Monorail Station in Paradise. Paradise is also served by the

Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) is a government agency and the transit authority and the transportation-planning agency for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1965. RTC Transit The Region ...

by bus routes both on and off the

Sports

Paradise is home to Las Vegas's three major league sports teams: the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), which play at

, the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) which play at

, and the

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home game ...

of the WNBA which play at

Michelob Ultra Arena The Michelob Ultra Arena, formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena at the Mandalay Bay, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MG ...

Super Bowl LVIII Super Bowl LVIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. A rematch of Super Bowl LIV four years prior, the American Football Conference (AFC) 20 ...

in 2024 was played at Allegiant Stadium. Paradise will be the future home of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) at a new stadium. As UNLV is located in Paradise, most of its various teams play in the township. The

UNLV Rebels football The UNLV Rebels football program is a college football team that represents the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The team is a member of the Mountain West Conference, which is a NCAA Division I, Division I Bowl Subdivision (formerly Divisio ...

program plays at Allegiant Stadium, and the Runnin' Rebels and Lady Rebels play at

Thomas & Mack Center The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference. History The facility first ...

and in the Cox Pavilion respectively. Also, since 2004, the Las Vegas Summer League, organized by the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), is played in the Thomas & Mack Center and in the Cox Pavilion. Many

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

College Basketball Tournament conferences are also hosted at the Thomas & Mack Center in March every year. Since 1985, almost every December the

National Finals Rodeo The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier championship rodeo of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). It showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event. The NFR is held each year in the f ...

has been held at the Thomas & Mack Center. The one exception was in 2020, when the event was held in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

, at

Globe Life Field Globe Life Field is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. It is located just south of the Rangers' former home ballpark, Globe ...

due to public health concerns during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The contract extension signed in June 2024 means that the finals will continue to be held at the Thomas & Mack Center until at least 2035. Paradise has hosted the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Las Vegas Grand Prix The Las Vegas Grand Prix is a motor racing event that forms part of the Formula One World Championship, taking place in Paradise, Nevada, in the United States. It is conducted as a night race on Las Vegas Strip Circuit, a temporary street circ ...

, held on a

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

including part of the Las Vegas Strip, since

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Notes

References

External links

Paradise Town Advisory Board Homepage
{{Coord, 36, 4, 55, N, 115, 7, 29, W, type:city, display=title 1950 establishments in Nevada Census-designated places in Clark County, Nevada Las Vegas Valley Populated places established in 1950 Unincorporated towns in Nevada

History

MGM Grand fire of 1980

Las Vegas shooting

Cybertruck explosion

Geography

Demographics

Places of interest

Education

Transportation

Sports

See also

Notes

References

External links