Olympia, WA vs Las Vegas, NV
Moving from Olympia to Las Vegas? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($533,918 → $430,650 median home) and taxes.
Olympia 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 Olympia, WA, you'd need about $92,409 in Las Vegas, NV (−$7,591).
Livability — Olympia, WA: 52 · Las Vegas, NV: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,686 sqft in Olympia vs 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas ($297 vs $227 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Olympia, WA | Las Vegas, NV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $24,492 | $20,844 | −$3,648 |
| Groceries | $5,246 | $4,841 | −$404 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $4,740 | +$665 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,548 | +$0 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,300 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $7,085 | $4,779 | −$2,306 |
| Total | $43,946 | $38,052 | −$5,894 |
Side by side
| Metric | Olympia, WA | Las Vegas, NV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 106.4 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.49% | 7.66% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 9.0% | 7.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.05 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $533,918 | $430,650 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.0× | 6.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.3% | -2.7% |
| Price per square foot | $297 | $227 |
| Median rent | $2,041 | $1,737 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 9.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 8.23% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.92% | 0.51% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $11,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.12% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 14.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 4.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $48 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $80 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $89 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 95 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 4.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 0.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 33% | 85% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |