How many people can a Nimitz-class carrier transport?

How many people could a Nimitz-class carrier carry in an emergency evacuation?

About 10,000 may be possible without an air wing and with severe crowding, but sanitation, food, water, and voyage length become the real limits.

Published complements are difficult to reconcile because the roughly 3,500-person ship's company, 2,500-person air wing, and command staff are not always counted consistently. Removing aircraft would free the hangar and other spaces for temporary bunks or hammocks. With hot bunking and severe crowding, the panel considers a total near 10,000 people plausible for an emergency lift. Toilets, potable water, food, and voyage length would become the binding constraints before raw deck area did.