Nevada cost of living
Prices in Nevada run at 100.0 against a national average of 100, which makes it the 19th most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 114.1.
Where the difference actually is
Nevada sits at 100.0, which is as close to the national average as this series gets. It ranks #19 of 51 states, in the middle by construction rather than by coincidence.
Housing is doing nearly all of the work. Rents sit at 114.1 while goods sit at 96.3, a gap of 14.1 points between what it costs to live somewhere and what it costs to buy things. That pattern is the single most useful thing the parity series shows: the cost of a place is the cost of its housing.
The number is most useful in reverse: a job here can pay less in cash and still leave a household better off, by roughly 0 per cent before anything else is considered.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for Nevada, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| Nevada | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $406,100 |
| Median gross rent | $1,489 a month |
| Median household income | $75,561 |
| Average electricity bill | $115 a month |
| Effective property tax | 0.49% |
Metro areas in Nevada
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reno | 101.0 | 96.3 | 123.5 | #68 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas | 100.2 | 96.3 | 115.5 | #86 |
| Carson City | 98.1 | 96.3 | 101.2 | #113 |
Nevada cost of living: common questions
Is Nevada expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 0% below the national average, at a parity of 100.0 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #19 of 51. Goods run at 96.3, rents at 114.1 and other services at 90.5.
What is a salary in Nevada really worth?
The median wage there is $46,440. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $46,440 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In Nevada rents sit 14.1 points above the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.