Photo: Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsA cost of living comparison is only useful if it says what is being compared. The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes regional price parities for metro areas, which measure what the same basket of goods and services costs in each place against the national average. Census income and housing figures then show how local pay stacks up against those prices.
The BEA price index for Reno and nearby metros
Regional price parities set the national average at 100. A reading of 101.0 means a metro area is about 1 percent above that average for the full basket. The table lists the 2024 index for Reno and for the metros that most newcomers move from, with the housing component shown separately because it drives the differences.
| Metro area (BEA, 2024) | All items | Housing |
|---|---|---|
| Reno, NV | 101.0 | 123.5 |
| Carson City, NV | 98.1 | 101.2 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 100.2 | 115.5 |
| Boise City, ID | 98.4 | 105.6 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 103.3 | 121.2 |
| Sacramento, CA | 106.7 | 130.2 |
| Seattle, WA | 111.1 | 151.3 |
| San Francisco, CA | 115.6 | 194.7 |
The pattern is clear. Reno's goods index is 96.3, below the national figure, and its utilities index is 89.3, while housing at 123.5 pulls the total up. Sacramento's utilities index is 151.3 and San Francisco's is 172.6, so a household arriving from California often sees the largest change in its power and gas bills rather than in groceries.
What local income buys
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024 gives Reno a median household income of 80,760 dollars, a median gross rent of 1,556 dollars and a median home value of 548,300 dollars. A year of median rent comes to about 23 percent of median household income. The national median home value is 332,700 dollars, so a Reno house costs about 6.8 years of local median income, against roughly 4.1 years nationally.
Sparks is a little different. Its median household income is 89,056 dollars, its median rent is 1,716 dollars and its median home value is 483,800 dollars. The Reno metro as a whole shows 87,485, 1,592 and 502,300 for the same three measures. Carson City's metro area is lower on all three, at 72,355, 1,248 and 453,000.
Taxes belong in the comparison
Nevada collects no state personal income tax, which changes the arithmetic for anyone who pays one now. Sales tax and property tax still apply, and the Nevada taxes page and the property tax page cover each. A fair comparison uses the take-home pay you would have in both places, not the salary alone.
How to run your own numbers
- Start with your current household income and subtract the income tax you pay today.
- Find the median rent or home value for the neighborhoods you are considering on the neighborhoods page.
- Add utilities, using the BEA utilities index as a rough guide to the direction of change.
- Use the cost of living compare tool and the metro data table to check your origin city against Reno.
- Add the cost of the move itself last, and get it in writing through a free in-home estimate.
A note on moving costs
The cost of getting your household to Reno is separate from the cost of living in it. Long-distance moves are priced by weight and services, which the long-distance cost guide explains without quoting a number that would not fit your load.