Madison, WI vs Las Vegas, NV
Moving from Madison to Las Vegas? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($452,769 → $430,650 median home) and taxes.
Madison vs Las Vegas 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 Madison, WI, you'd need about $102,452 in Las Vegas, NV (+$2,452).
Livability — Madison, WI: 62 · Las Vegas, NV: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,878 sqft in Madison vs 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas ($266 vs $227 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Madison, WI | Las Vegas, NV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,196 | $20,844 | +$648 |
| Groceries | $4,691 | $4,841 | +$150 |
| Transportation | $3,085 | $4,740 | +$1,655 |
| Utilities | $2,076 | $1,548 | −$528 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,300 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $15,162 | $4,779 | −$10,383 |
| Total | $46,510 | $38,052 | −$8,458 |
Side by side
| Metric | Madison, WI | Las Vegas, NV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 95.9 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.42% | 7.66% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 6.1% | 7.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.46 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $452,769 | $430,650 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.5× | 6.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.7% | -2.7% |
| Price per square foot | $266 | $227 |
| Median rent | $1,683 | $1,737 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.9% | 9.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.43% | 8.23% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.65% | None |
| Property tax rate | 1.75% | 0.51% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $13,000 | $11,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.12% |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $600 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 19.2 | 14.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 4.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $48 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $42 | $80 |
| Home internet / mo | $85 | $89 |
| Violent crime /100k | 320 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 95 |
| Avg winter low °F | 8 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 34.6 | 4.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 48.7 | 0.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 54% | 85% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 3 |