Las Vegas vs Pittsburgh
Metro-area medians — Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV Metro Area vs Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Pittsburgh comes out ahead, winning 7 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.
Pittsburgh is about 6% cheaper to live in, while Las Vegas households earn about 4% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches about as far in either.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you, Pittsburgh leaves you about $1,151/yr better off after tax and local prices.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
Choose Pittsburgh for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
- + Median rent
- + Median home value
- + Unemployment
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
- + Air quality (median AQI)
Las Vegas vs Pittsburgh — frequently asked
- Is Las Vegas cheaper than Pittsburgh?
- Pittsburgh is cheaper: its overall cost of living runs about 6% below Las Vegas's (BEA Regional Price Parities).
- Which has higher household income, Las Vegas or Pittsburgh?
- Las Vegas has the higher median household income — $80,028 versus $77,214 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 4% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Las Vegas or Pittsburgh?
- It is roughly a wash. After adjusting income for local prices, a typical paycheck is worth about the same in both metros ($79,856 versus $81,560).
- Which has cheaper rent, Las Vegas or Pittsburgh?
- Pittsburgh has cheaper rent — a median of $1,083/mo versus $1,739/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).