What it's like to live in Fernley
Fernley is a small city in Nevada with household incomes running above the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, and a population that has grown fast since 2020. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Fernley deals with college degree attainment below the national average, larger class sizes than the national average, cold winters, and hot summers.
The good
- Higher-than-average incomes
- Clean air
- Fast-growing population
The not so good
- Low college degree attainment
- High student-teacher ratio
- Cold winters
- Hot summers
- Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
- Car-dependent — few commuters use transit
How Fernley compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Fernley
Based on Fernley's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$3,140
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $62,800 a year
- 43% of Fernley renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$73,340
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $36,670
- Homes cost 4.1× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▲ 11% above US
$1,570/mo median rent
Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,570 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices run above average, with a median around $366,700. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.
Median home value $366,700 · 43% of renters cost-burdened
Job marketNear US average
4.3% unemployment
Unemployment here is 4.3%, close to the national average of 4.3%.
City-level (BLS)
Safety
293 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Fernley doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Lyon County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs close to the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.
Property crime 579/100k · Policed by Lyon County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
28 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 27.9 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 7% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 93°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 26°F and snow a regular occurrence. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▼ 54% below US
16% bachelor's degree or higher
This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.
Schools
7 public schools inside the boundary
There are 7 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 21:1, above the national average of 16:1.
Bottom line
Fernley's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are college degree attainment below the national average and cold winters. A year of median rent ($1,570/mo) equals 21% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.
Other places near Fernley
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