Las Vegas, NV vs Salem, OR
Moving from Las Vegas to Salem? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $454,689 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Salem 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 $104,246 in Salem, OR (+$4,246).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Salem, OR: 59 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 1,869 sqft in Salem ($227 vs $268 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Salem, OR | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $19,536 | −$1,308 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $5,239 | +$398 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,680 | −$1,060 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,704 | +$156 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $900 | −$400 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $13,135 | +$8,357 |
| Total | $38,052 | $44,194 | +$6,142 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Salem, OR |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 102.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 5.41% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 5.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 64 | 35 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.83 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $454,689 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $268 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,628 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 10.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 0.00% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 9.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.90% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $900 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $600 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 15.8 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 4.10 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 340 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 34 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 4 |