Empire is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, with a population estimated at 65 (2021).

The nearest town, Nixon, is 60 miles (97 km) to the south on a reservation owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

[4] In late 1909, Alex Ranson, Nick Curnow, E. H. Cowles and James Raser filed a patent for a selenite placer mining claim.

Amid a slump in the construction industry, the gypsum plant in Empire closed its doors on January 31, 2011, eliminating 95 jobs.

[11][12] Residents with children were allowed to continue inhabiting their company homes through June 20, 2011, the end of the school year.

After that date, Empire had empty homes and a large shuttered plant that made it seem almost like a ghost town.

[16][3] According to the United States Census Bureau, the Empire CDP has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13.3 km2), all land.

During its heyday under U.S. Gypsum, the town had a church, a public pool, a nine-hole golf course, an airport, and a post office.

The economy of Empire includes serving tourists heading to the nearby Black Rock Desert and hunting.

[20] After the closure of the plant in 2011, the grocery store remained the only source of provisions within 100 miles (160 km) of the Black Rock Desert.

Due to the plant closure, Fern, now age 62, is forced to leave town, and she starts a nomadic lifestyle, living out of her van, and taking on odd jobs along the way.