Where Was Nomadland Filmed Across The United States?

Question

Yara · Answer

I loved how 'Nomadland' used real places instead of soundstages. If you want the short geography guide: most filming happened in the American West — Nevada (notably Empire and the Reno/Fernley region), Arizona (Quartzsite RV gatherings), California (desert highways, small towns and Valley scenes), and South Dakota (the Badlands and nearby towns). The crew traveled lightly and filmed with actual nomads at genuine work sites and community gatherings, so the film’s locations are authentic and lived-in rather than manufactured.

If you’re into road trips, those places — Empire’s eerie industrial backdrop, Quartzsite’s RV swirl, the wide-open Badlands — are gorgeous in a very quiet, contemplative way. I keep thinking about how those real stretches of highway and campgrounds shaped the story, and it makes me want to hit the road myself.

Hazel · Answer

I tend to geek out over how location choices shape a film’s mood, and 'Nomadland' is a masterpiece of place. The production spent most of its time in the western United States: Nevada anchors much of the movie (Empire in particular, plus the Reno/Fernley corridor), while Arizona’s Quartzsite gives us the nomad-commune energy of RV conventions. California supplies a variety of canvases — desert expanses, highway diners, and rural work sites — which help the film oscillate between solitude and community. Then there’s the stark, cinematic sweep of South Dakota’s Badlands, which punctuates the narrative with a geological, almost mythic loneliness.

What’s important to me is that many sequences were shot with non-actors doing real work — harvests, warehouse shifts, campsite gatherings — so the locations aren’t just pretty backgrounds; they’re functional places where people live and make a living. The result is immersive: landscape, weather, and small-town architecture all inform Fern’s journey, making the film feel like an elegy and a travelogue at once. I walked away thinking about light, labor, and the quiet dignity of these American places.

Uri · Answer

Watching 'Nomadland' felt like stepping into a long, quiet road trip that actually happened — and that's because much of it did. The movie was shot across the American West, with heavy work done in Nevada: the real-life company town of Empire (that ghostly, empty feel is unmistakable) and the greater Reno/Fernley area supplied a lot of the everyday, lived-in landscapes. The production deliberately worked in real communities and with real nomads, so you see places that aren’t studio-made but actual pockets of American life.

Beyond Nevada, filmmakers chased desert light and RV gatherings in Arizona — Quartzsite’s famous winter RV meet shows up with all its eccentric color. California provided a mix of small-town and desert locations, including stretches that read like Death Valley and Mojave backroads as well as agricultural and van-life stops across the Central Valley and northern parts of the state. The film also cuts to the Badlands and surrounding territory in South Dakota, giving those vistas a sharp, lonely counterpoint to the warm interiors. For me, the geography is as much a character as the people — it’s where the movie breathes, and that stuck with me long after the credits rolled.

Ivan · Answer

'Nomadland' didn’t stay in one studio corner — it moved through real America. The main states used were Nevada (notably the abandoned town of Empire and areas around Reno/Fernley), Arizona (the Quartzsite RV meetup and nearby desert stretches), California (desert roads, rural towns and valley work spots), and South Dakota (scenes in and around the Badlands). The director leaned into authentic communities, shooting in actual campsites, workplaces and small towns, which gives the film its lived-in texture.

I love that this isn’t glossy filmmaking; it’s road-worn and honest, and those locations made the story feel completely grounded and surprisingly hopeful in its own quiet way.

Where Was Nomadland Filmed Across The United States?

4 Answers

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