Las Vegas, NV vs Buffalo, NY
Moving from Las Vegas to Buffalo? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $288,316 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Buffalo at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Las Vegas, NV, you'd need about $96,576 in Buffalo, NY (−$3,424).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Buffalo, NY: 61 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 2,775 sqft in Buffalo ($227 vs $180 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Buffalo, NY | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $17,328 | −$3,516 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,868 | +$27 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,895 | −$845 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $3,180 | +$1,632 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,600 | +$300 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $18,192 | +$13,414 |
| Total | $38,052 | $49,063 | +$11,011 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Buffalo, NY |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 94.9 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 5.10% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 2.4% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.40 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $288,316 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 4.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 4.8% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $180 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,444 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 15.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 8.52% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 10.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 2.26% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $7,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $17,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 22 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 3.45 |
| Natural gas / mo | $48 | $98 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $80 | $87 |
| Home internet / mo | $89 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 350 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 83 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 16 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 4.2 | 40.7 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 95.4 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 85% | 48% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |