Las Vegas, NV vs Lafayette, LA
Moving from Las Vegas to Lafayette? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $202,312 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Lafayette 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 $89,080 in Lafayette, LA (−$10,920).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Lafayette, LA: 72 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 4,941 sqft in Lafayette ($227 vs $101 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Lafayette, LA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $16,452 | −$4,392 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,650 | −$191 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $4,475 | −$265 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,560 | +$12 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $3,500 | +$2,200 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $8,509 | +$3,731 |
| Total | $38,052 | $39,146 | +$1,094 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Lafayette, LA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 87.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 5.97% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | -1.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 64 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $4.98 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $202,312 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 3.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 2.1% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $101 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,371 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 9.56% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.49% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $8,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | 0.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $3,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $1,000 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 14.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 630 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 43 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |