Most new Nevada residents migrating from California, data shows

When people move to the Silver State, they eventually need to apply for a driver’s license or identification card.

And when they do so, the majority of new residents turn over their license or ID card from their previous state, which gives a good idea of where people moving to Nevada generally come from.

In 2020, there were 69,660 out-of-state driver’s licenses and ID cards surrendered to the state. Those consisted of 64,722 driver’s licenses and 4,938 ID cards, according to Nevada Department of Motor Vehicle data.

As one would expect, the overwhelming majority turning in their old state’s licenses or ID cards last year hailed from California.

The Golden State represented 29,918 of the surrendered cards, accounting for 43 percent of those turned in last year.

Florida came in a distant second with 3,174 surrendered licenses and ID cards combined, followed by Arizona (2,931), Texas (2,847) and Washington state (2,594).

DMV offices in Clark County saw 19,012 California-based licenses and ID cards surrendered in 2020. Florida again was second (2,621) followed by Texas (2,130), Arizona (2,070) and Washington (1,802).

DMV spokesman Kevin Malone said the data is a good indicator of where people are moving to Nevada from, but the “numbers for 2020 are definitely not an indicator of how many people moved to Nevada,” Malone said. “We were closed for three months and many new residents had delays in obtaining appointments even after we reopened.”

States with the lowest number of surrendered licenses and ID cards were Rhode Island with 58, Maine with 65, and New Hampshire with 127. In addition, Washington, D.C., had 77.

Similar trends were witnessed in 2019 with California representing the overwhelming majority of surrendered license and ID cards, with 42,011. Florida (4,969), Arizona (4,630) Texas (4,614) and Washington (3,584) rounded out the top five.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic affected all areas of the DMV’s operations, the volume of surrendered licenses and IDs was greater in 2019 than 2020. In 2019 there were 103,366 surrendered cards, 33 percent more than in 2020.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter. Send questions and comments to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com.