[7] The people, known as Numu (human beings) in their own language, have lived in the Smith and Mason Valleys in Northwestern Nevada, since around 1000 A.D.[8] The community was formerly named Greenfield, Mason Valley, and Pizen Switch (irreverent nickname from the time where Yerington was a transfer - or switch - stop; and the local whiskey was so bad that it was called "poison".

[6] After the Dayton Court House burned down in 1909, the county seat was moved to Yerington in 1911.

[5] During World War II, one of many Japanese Fu-Go balloon bombs launched at the United States landed on the Wilson Ranch near Yerington.

[9] The ranchers, not knowing what it was, attempted to notify the authorities by mail, but did not receive a response until after they cut it up and used it as a hay tarp.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.5 square miles (76.3 km2), all land.

Yerington is noticeably more arid than areas even marginally closer to the Sierra Nevada – it receives only half as much precipitation as Carson City, a third as much as South Lake Tahoe and only one-eighth as much as Nevada City, California on the western Sierra slopes.

Because the drying effect of the Pine Nut Mountains is most pronounced in the winter, Yerington receives very little snow in most years, although in the very cold and snowy month of January 1916 as much as 37.0 inches (0.94 m) fell and that season saw a total of 39.5 inches (1.00 m).

For the 2010 census,[15] basic statistics show there were 3,048 people, 1,302 households, and 747 families residing in the city.

"Darcy Farrow," a folk song written by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell, mentions Yerington ("Her eyes shone bright like the pretty lights / That shine in the night out of Yerington town," 7–8) and other places and landmarks in the area, including Virginia City, the Carson Valley, and the Truckee River.

Critics have noted the geographical inaccuracy in the line "The Walker runs down to the Carson Valley plain.