Las Vegas, NV vs Lincoln, NE
Moving from Las Vegas to Lincoln? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $304,242 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Lincoln 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 $93,496 in Lincoln, NE (−$6,504).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Lincoln, NE: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 2,793 sqft in Lincoln ($227 vs $179 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Lincoln, NE | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $16,128 | −$4,716 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,827 | −$14 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,300 | −$1,440 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,440 | −$108 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $3,600 | +$2,300 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $11,420 | +$6,641 |
| Total | $38,052 | $40,715 | +$2,663 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Lincoln, NE |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 91.9 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 3.11% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 5.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.23 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $304,242 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 4.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 4.1% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $179 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,344 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 11.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 6.97% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 5.20% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 1.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | 2.27% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 19 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $3,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 3.10 |
| Natural gas / mo | $48 | $79 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $80 | $108 |
| Home internet / mo | $89 | $75 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 330 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 88 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 14 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 4.2 | 28.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 25.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 85% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |