Las Vegas, NV vs Columbia, SC
Moving from Las Vegas to Columbia? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $256,154 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Columbia 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 $94,849 in Columbia, SC (−$5,151).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Columbia, SC: 69 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 3,903 sqft in Columbia ($227 vs $128 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Columbia, SC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $18,444 | −$2,400 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,797 | −$44 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,465 | −$1,275 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,848 | +$300 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $2,000 | +$700 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $10,215 | +$5,437 |
| Total | $38,052 | $40,769 | +$2,718 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Columbia, SC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 93.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 5.71% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.30 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $256,154 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 4.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $128 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,537 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 8.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 7.44% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 6.40% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.63% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $6,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $8,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | 2.33% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 17.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 3.05 |
| Natural gas / mo | $48 | $56 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $80 | $97 |
| Home internet / mo | $89 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 530 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 36 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 4.2 | 49.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 85% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |