[2] Per Japanese census data,[3] the population of Nakano has remained relatively constant over the past 70 years.

The area was part of the tenryō (direct holdings) of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period and was administered from Nakano jin'ya.

It was elevated to city status on July 1, 1955 by the merger of the town with neighboring villages of Hino, Entoku, Nagaoka, Hiraoka, Takaoka, Shinano, and Yamato.

Nakano has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 20 members.

Nakano boasts high quality fruits and vegetables, including Fuji apples, Kyohō grapes, peaches, pears, rice, asparagus, and mushrooms.