Raleigh, NC vs Las Vegas, NV
Moving from Raleigh to Las Vegas? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($438,364 → $430,650 median home) and taxes.
Raleigh 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 Raleigh, NC, you'd need about $99,930 in Las Vegas, NV (−$70).
Livability — Raleigh, NC: 64 · Las Vegas, NV: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,281 sqft in Raleigh vs 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas ($219 vs $227 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Raleigh, NC | Las Vegas, NV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,328 | $20,844 | +$516 |
| Groceries | $4,840 | $4,841 | +$2 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $4,740 | +$1,610 |
| Utilities | $1,752 | $1,548 | −$204 |
| Insurance | $2,000 | $1,300 | −$700 |
| Taxes | $9,294 | $4,779 | −$4,515 |
| Total | $41,344 | $38,052 | −$3,292 |
Side by side
| Metric | Raleigh, NC | Las Vegas, NV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.4 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.19% | 7.66% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 11.5% | 7.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.60 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $438,364 | $430,650 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.8× | 6.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.2% | -2.7% |
| Price per square foot | $219 | $227 |
| Median rent | $1,694 | $1,737 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.9% | 9.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.98% | 8.23% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.25% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.75% | 0.51% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $11,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.10% | 2.12% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.3 | 14.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 4.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $62 | $48 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $78 | $80 |
| Home internet / mo | $80 | $89 |
| Violent crime /100k | 400 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 95 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 46.1 | 4.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 5.2 | 0.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 58% | 85% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 3 |