[lovecrowds]

A single person can easily, easily live on $50,000 gross in Las Vegas because it has no income tax and apartment rents are very low.

An average 1 bedroom apartment is around 700 dollars a month. But there are still apartments in the neighborhoods just North and East of downtown Las Vegas for 400 dollars a month.

I always think the cost of living is exaggerated in Las Vegas as it is certainly the most affordable large metro area in the West.

Even Reno is pricey compared to Las Vegas. Phoenix is more expensive and escalating faster then Las Vegas.

A family with two kids making $50,000 is going to struggle anywhere if they have a mortgage or rent a house. It's a $12,500 per-capita income which is around $1,000 per capita monthly.

However, the family in Las Vegas can rent a newer 3 bedroom house in North Las Vegas or Sunrise Manor for $1,000 a month and there are no income taxes in the state.

[WildSpark]

And someone please tell me what companies are hiring that pay $50k/year in Lost Wages? I've been searching for over a year now and the only pay range for anything remotely professional has been $6-11/ hour, (yes, I know minimum wage is $8.25, but I've encountered shady companies) with the only exception being state jobs in the $19-25 range, but I never get a bite despite having over ten years experience. I think those jobs don't even exist. Unemployment here is still at least at 14% despite what our government says.

[EA]

I made 50k in 2015 in 8 months as a carpenter apprentice.
You can make 50k driving cab. It sucks but it's 50k
Jobs are out there. My lowest paying jobs since I've been here was 600 a week take home.

[crabtrees]

Does anyone in this forum have a career that requires a college degree? If so, what is the job market like for educated professionals? My wife and I both have degrees and each over 10 years legal experience at large law firms. If we ever moved there we would be applying for positions at one of the Las Vegas branches of one of the national firms out there. It's so scary to read so so many posts about how nobody in Las Vegas makes any money. I don't understand it. It's not Detroit.

In regards to the topic on this post, is the $50k annual salary need to live comfortably referring to total household income, or per person? For those who have years of experience in Las Vegas, how well do you think a family of 3 could live if they combined to make $80-$100k a year, house mortgage is $2000 a month, no other debt? I always hear the cost of living in Las Vegas is low, but from my 'limited' experience in the area, the only thing that costs less is the housing. Everything else is generally the same as it is in the surrounding states, give or take. Food isn't any cheaper, utilities aren't any cheaper, gas isn't any cheaper, cable isn't cheaper.

[EA]

50k for a family of 4 is adequate. 80-100k is fantastic.

We don't hate state tax, which is huge for people making a lot of money.

The weather is fairly consistent so there's no massive heating/cooling bills. I don't even run my hvac most of the year.

Traffic is minimal and everything is close so you don't need to spend a lot in gas.

It is far cheaper here than places like LA. Lower taxes and housing costs.

[Cold Warrior]

utilities aren't any cheaper

???

Electricity is much cheaper here. Thanks to PG&E's tiered rate system, a hot July in Northern California is about as expensive as an entire year in Las Vegas.

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by EA

I made 50k in 2015 in 8 months as a carpenter apprentice.
You can make 50k driving cab. It sucks but it's 50k
Jobs are out there. My lowest paying jobs since I've been here was 600 a week take home.

How the heck can an apprentice make $50k?
Did you have to work 100hrs per week?

[crabtrees]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

???

Electricity is much cheaper here. Thanks to PG&E's tiered rate system, a hot July in Northern California is about as expensive as an entire year in Las Vegas.

I've read countless times where people state that their average electric bill in the summer is $300 a month, and maybe half that in the winter. I see it over and over. My electric bill in California was $30 a month other than the peak summer times when I ran the AC at night...my bill got up to $80 a month. And I never made any effort to conserve power, although I don't waste it by leaving lights on and all that. Maybe all those people paying $300 a month were running AC 24/7?

[EA]

Originally Posted by OmegaSupreme

How the heck can an apprentice make $50k?
Did you have to work 100hrs per week?

Apprentices get raises pretty quickly. I'm at 31.92 an hour. Over time adds up quick. We get 1.5 time after 8 hours and double time after 12. Saturday is time and a half. Sunday is double time. Holidays are triple time.

[lvmensch]

We seem to miss that Las Vegas is remarkably ordinary on these metrics. Cost of living is within a percent or two of the US average. Family income is a little better than average likely driven by the relatively high pay scales on the Strip. Not saying the generic strip job pays well...just better than such jobs virtually anywhere else. Thank Culinary.

So if you come from a high cost area such as coastal CA or the East coast it feels inexpensive. Move from Podunk TN it feels quite expensive.