Merced, CA vs Las Vegas, NV
Moving from Merced to Las Vegas? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($419,171 → $430,650 median home) and taxes.
Merced 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 Merced, CA, you'd need about $98,663 in Las Vegas, NV (−$1,337).
Livability — Merced, CA: 57 · Las Vegas, NV: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,790 sqft in Merced vs 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas ($279 vs $227 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Merced, CA | Las Vegas, NV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,700 | $20,844 | −$2,856 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,841 | −$405 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $4,740 | −$385 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,548 | −$2,256 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,300 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $18,715 | $4,779 | −$13,936 |
| Total | $58,091 | $38,052 | −$20,039 |
Side by side
| Metric | Merced, CA | Las Vegas, NV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 99.6 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 10.70% | 7.66% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 7.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.67 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $419,171 | $430,650 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 6.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.4% | -2.7% |
| Price per square foot | $279 | $227 |
| Median rent | $1,975 | $1,737 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 8.23% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.68% | 0.51% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $11,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 2.12% |
| Avg commute (min) | 31 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 14.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 4.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $48 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $80 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $89 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 95 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 13.5 | 4.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 75% | 85% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |