The Cost of Living in Las Vegas

Ever considering moving to wonderful Sin City, Las Vegas? Often referred to as the Vacation and Marriage capital of the world, Las Vegas is a highly desirably place to be. The fame of Las Vegas is commonly known as the Strip; a 5 mile stretch of Las Vegas Blvd that is, for the most part, pure casinos. The strip contains over 30 of the most high end gambling places in Vegas including the famous Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, The Wyn, Mirage and many others. The best part of it all: legalized gambling and semi-legal prostitution. However, what is it like to actually live there? The scope of this article will contain the cost of living in Las Vegas to other regions in America.

Taxes
Sales Tax: 7.75
Food Tax: None
Personal Income Tax: None

Gas Prices
The current prices of regular un-leaded gas rang from $2.89 - $3.15/gallon.
Premium ranges $3.13 - $3.69/gallon.
Diesel Fuel holds out at $3.30/gallon

Housing
Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in America and with population comes inflation. Housing Inflation. While is still cheaper than hot spots like San Diego, Miami, New York and Chicago, Vegas housing is far from cheep.
Few statistics:

Median house price: $315,000
Most expensive property publicly noted: $14.7 million
Median condo / Town House price: $195,000
Apt pricing rang:
1 Bedroom: $450-950/month
2 Bedroom: $660-1200/month
3 Bedroom: $815-1500/month

The breakdown by area of Vegas (low, middle class, high end) is as follows:
Traditional Las Vegas- the main part of the city consists of middle classes houses with the exception of three sections of 15sq miles of "ghetto". (North town, Flamingo stretch, 1^st-13^th ghetto). Average house prices rang from $190,000-$300,00.

Henderson - The south eastern section of Vegas. Consists of middle to upper class housing. In general, a good area with the exception of the NE Henderson ghetto. One street literally divides the classing system by having a nice, expensive set of housing directly across the street of a very bad neighborhood. Housing prices range from $300,000 to roughly $400,000.

GreenValley - The Green Valley area is typically referred to as "New Henderson". The two area's border each other, with Green Valley continuing to grow. Upper-Middle class housing ranging from $315,000-900,000. What stands out about green valley is the cost of an apartment. My 3 bed room costs me 1300/month to rent.

Summerland - The newest addition to Vegas is it's North West community of Summerland. This is an upper class to wealthy part of Vegas with housing running from $400,000 to an easy 7.5 million.

Food:
Milk - 2% milk at Wal-Mart generally runs for $3.25 a gallon. However you can pick up a gallon of milk at an Albertsons in Henderson for $4.15.
Steak - Generally $8/lb
Large AA Eggs - $1.65 / Dozen

I hope after reading this article you are more familiar with the cost of living in Las Vegas. There are a few things to note if you are considering relocating here. One, Las Vegas is a desert; hot, dry and not water. Two, this is not a town for people under 21, it can become very boring. And last, Las Vegas never sleeps. You will find many stores are open 24/7.