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The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that
Nevada's total state product in 2006 was $117
billion. Resort areas such as Las Vegas, Reno,
Lake Tahoe, attract
visitors from around the world. Per capita personal
income in 2005 was $46,108, 11th in the
nation. Its agricultural outputs are cattle, hay,
alfalfa, dairy products, onions and potatoes. Its
industrial outputs are tourism, mining, machinery,
printing and publishing, food processing, and
electric equipment.
Prostitution is
legal in parts of Nevada, in the form of
brothels, but only counties with populations under
400,000 residents can legalize it, and even those
counties may choose to outlaw it if they wish.
Prostitution is illegal and offenders are prosecuted
in Clark County
(which contains Las Vegas),
Washoe County
(which contains Reno), and several other counties
around the state.
In portions
of the state outside of the Las Vegas and Reno
metropolitan areas, mining and cattle ranching are
the major economic activities. By value, gold is by
far the most important mineral mined. In 2004, 6.8
million ounces of gold worth $2.84 billion were
mined in Nevada, and the state accounted for 8.7% of
world gold production. Silver is a distant second,
with 10.3 million ounces worth $69 million mined in
2004. Other minerals mined in Nevada include
construction aggregates, copper, gypsum, diotomite
and lithium. Despite its rich deposits, the cost of
mining in Nevada is generally high, and output is
very sensitive to world commodity prices.
As of
January 1, 2006 there were an estimated 500,000 head
of cattle and 70,000 head of sheep in Nevada. Most
of these animals forage on
rangeland in the summer, with supplemental feed
in the winter. Calves are generally shipped to
out-of-state feedlots in the
fall to be fattened for market. Over 90% of Nevada's
484,000 acres (1,960 km�) of cropland is used to
grow hay, mostly alfalfa, for
livestock feed.
Nevada is
also one of only a few states with
no personal income tax and no corporate income
tax. The state sales tax in
Nevada is 6.5%. Counties can assess
option
taxes as well, making the combined state/county
sales taxes rate in some areas as high as 7.75%.
Sales tax in Carson City is 7.125% in Clark County
7.75%, in Washoe County 7.375%, while sales tax in
Douglas County is 6.75%.
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