Las Vegas, NV vs Tuscaloosa, AL
Moving from Las Vegas to Tuscaloosa? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $223,201 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas vs Tuscaloosa 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 $90,661 in Tuscaloosa, AL (−$9,339).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Tuscaloosa, AL: 74 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 4,591 sqft in Tuscaloosa ($227 vs $109 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Tuscaloosa, AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $17,820 | −$3,024 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,729 | −$112 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,465 | −$1,275 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,884 | +$336 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $2,400 | +$1,100 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $8,901 | +$4,122 |
| Total | $38,052 | $39,199 | +$1,147 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Tuscaloosa, AL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 89.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 5.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 13.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 64 | 37 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.07 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $223,201 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 3.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $109 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,485 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 9.25% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.33% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $7,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | 0.70% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 33 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |