The Desert Southwest consists of parts of five states (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas). More than half of the populations of Arizona and Nevada in 2016 lived in the region.

Arizona’s share of its population living in the Desert Southwest was the highest: almost 9 out of every 10 residents in 2016, an increase from around 8 out of every 10 residents in 1950.

Nevada had the second-highest concentration of its residents living in the region: almost three quarters of that state’s population in 2016, more than double the proportion in 1950. By contrast, Reno, located in northern Nevada outside of the Desert Southwest, was a more populous city than Las Vegas in 1950.

The other three states into which the region extends (New Mexico, California, and Texas) ranged from about 20 percent (for New Mexico) to about 4 percent (for Texas) of their populations in the Desert Southwest in 2016.