Las Vegas, NV vs Durham, NC
Moving from Las Vegas to Durham? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $414,340 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Durham 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 $99,045 in Durham, NC (−$955).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Durham, NC: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 2,413 sqft in Durham ($227 vs $207 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Durham, NC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $20,436 | −$408 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,840 | −$2 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,130 | −$1,610 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,752 | +$204 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $2,000 | +$700 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $9,397 | +$4,619 |
| Total | $38,052 | $41,555 | +$3,503 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Durham, NC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 97.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 4.03% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 17.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 64 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.54 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $414,340 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 5.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | -1.9% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $207 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,703 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 9.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 6.98% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.87% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | 1.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 16.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 3.20 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 400 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 3 |