Is the Las Vegas Strip located in Las Vegas?
The 4.2-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard lined by hotels and casinos and known as the Strip is located in unincorporated Clark County, not within Las Vegas city limits.
The hotel corridor is part of Paradise, an unincorporated town that was formed on Dec. 8, 1950. The City of Las Vegas was mainly contained to the downtown area that was established in 1905. In 1941, the El Rancho Vegas Hotel and Casino became the first resort on what is known today as the Strip.
The Strip’s location outside of city limits enticed hoteliers seeking to avoid municipal taxes. In 1950, then-Las Vegas Mayor Ernie Cragin proposed annexing the Strip to capture tax revenue, but casino owners pushed the county to create an unincorporated township to block the mayor.
Today, the “room tax” in unincorporated Clark County is 12 percent, while the City of Las Vegas’ is 13.38 percent.