Las Vegas, NV vs Charleston, WV
Moving from Las Vegas to Charleston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $148,817 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Charleston 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 $90,611 in Charleston, WV (−$9,389).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Charleston, WV: 77 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 5,714 sqft in Charleston ($227 vs $88 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Charleston, WV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $15,180 | −$5,664 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,767 | −$74 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,410 | −$1,330 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,740 | +$192 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,300 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $8,230 | +$3,451 |
| Total | $38,052 | $34,627 | −$3,425 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Charleston, WV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 89.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 5.76% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 17.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 64 | 40 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.07 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $148,817 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 2.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 0.0% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $88 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,265 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 6.55% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 5.12% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.65% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | 1.66% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,700 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 16.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 280 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 26 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |