Carson City composite
41.4 /100
Grade F · weighted across 7 dims
2026 data Public-data reference. 11 dimensions compared
Carson City, NV vs Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV
Side-by-side comparison across cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare, and environment — sourced entirely from U.S. federal data, no crowdsourced estimates.
Carson City vs Las Vegas: composite livability scores
Carson City and Las Vegas differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Carson City has a cost-of-living index of 98.1 vs Las Vegas's 100.2 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $1,546/mo vs $1,735/mo.
Reading the Carson City vs Las Vegas Comparison
Carson City (NV) and Las Vegas (NV) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline — BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators — so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 98.1 for Carson City against 100.2 for Las Vegas, a 2.1-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent — the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards — is $1,546/mo in Carson City and $1,735/mo in Las Vegas, a $189/mo difference that compounds to $2,268 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 406.6 per 100,000 residents in NV vs 406.6 in NV, with property-crime rates of 2226.3 and 2226.3 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: NV lists 742 public schools at a 22.6:1 student-teacher ratio, while NV lists 742 schools at 22.6:1 — a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $10,033/yr in the Carson City area versus $10,033/yr in Las Vegas — a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Carson City and Las Vegas are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" — they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Las Vegas composite
45.4 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-2.1 pts
Carson City vs Las Vegas BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$189 /mo
Las Vegas priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Carson City
Carson City composite (Grade F)
Las Vegas
Las Vegas composite (Grade D)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living PlainCost →
| Category | Carson City | Las Vegas |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 98.1 | 100.2 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.3 |
| Services | 92.7 | 90.6 |
| Rents | 101.2 | 115.5 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Las Vegas gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Carson City?
$
Equivalent in Las Vegas:
$102,125
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Carson City: 98.1, Las Vegas: 100.2, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) PlainRent →
| Bedrooms | Carson City | Las Vegas |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,105/mo | $1,333/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,212/mo | $1,478/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,546/mo | $1,735/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $2,150/mo | $2,413/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $2,593/mo | $2,764/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) PlainCrime →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Carson City (NV) | Las Vegas (NV) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 406.6 | 406.6 |
| Property Crime | 2226.3 | 2226.3 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) PlainSchools →
| Metric | NV | NV |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 742 | 742 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 22.6:1 | 22.6:1 |
| Charter Schools | 13.6% | 13.6% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) PlainChildcare →
| Age Group | NV | NV |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $10,033/yr | $10,033/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $8,666/yr | $8,666/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $8,309/yr | $8,309/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) PlainEnviro →
| Metric | NV | NV |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 186 | 186 |
| Water Systems | 228 | 228 |
| Superfund Sites | 2 | 2 |
| Water Violations | 970 | 970 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) PlainAir →
| Metric | Carson City | Las Vegas |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 45.0 | 64.0 |
| Good Air Days | 73.8% | 24.6% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 1 days | 40 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) PlainWater →
| Metric | NV | NV |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 10/100 | 10/100 |
| Total Violations | 56,333 | 56,333 |
| Health-Based Violations | 6,657 | 6,657 |
| Systems with Violations | 92.5% | 92.5% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) PlainHealthAccess →
| Metric | NV | NV |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 45/100 | 45/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 55.6% | 55.6% |
| HPSA Designations | 153 | 153 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) PlainHazard →
| Metric | NV | NV |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 68/100 | 68/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 46.2 | 46.2 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 46.5 | 46.5 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Carson City more expensive than Las Vegas? ▼
Carson City has a cost of living index of 98.1 compared to Las Vegas's 100.2 (national average = 100). Las Vegas is 2.1 points above Carson City on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Carson City and Las Vegas? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,546/mo in Carson City vs $1,735/mo in Las Vegas, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,105/mo to $1,333/mo.
How do salaries compare between Carson City and Las Vegas? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is Carson City or Las Vegas safer? ▼
At the state level, NV has a violent crime rate of 406.6 per 100,000 residents compared to NV's 406.6 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 2226.3 vs 2226.3 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Carson City and Las Vegas? ▼
NV has 742 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 22.6:1, while NV has 742 schools at 22.6:1. Charter schools make up 13.6% of NV schools vs 13.6% in NV. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
Explore Further
Carson City Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Las Vegas Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Carson City Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Las Vegas Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Carson City Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
Las Vegas Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
NV Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
NV Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
Relocate Carson City to Las Vegas
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Relocate Las Vegas to Carson City
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial