California vs Nevada

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in California is worth

$90,334

at national prices · RPP 110.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Nevada is worth

$100,000

at national prices · RPP 100.0BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$9,666 further in Nevada (+10.7% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

California: $100,000 ÷ (110.7 ÷ 100) = $90,334

Nevada: $100,000 ÷ (100.0 ÷ 100) = $100,000

difference: $100,000 − $90,334 = +$9,666

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	California	Nevada	Difference
All items	110.7	100.0	−9.7%
Housing rents	154.3	114.1	−26.1%
Goods	106.1	96.3	−9.2%
Utilities	158.9	90.5	−43.0%
Other services	102.6	98.7	−3.8%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

CaliforniaMedian rent$2,036/moMedian home$734,700

NevadaMedian rent$1,597/moMedian home$435,400

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	California	Nevada
Income tax (top rate)	13.30%	None
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.99%	8.24%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

California vs Nevada: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from California to Nevada and its purchasing power changes from $90,334 to $100,000 in national-average terms — a gain of $9,666. Nevada is the cheaper of the two, running at 100 on the price index versus 110.7.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: California sits at 158.9 and Nevada at 90.5 (100 = national). Nevada has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $2,036 in California against $1,597 in Nevada, and the typical home $734,700 versus $435,400. Nevada is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, California has 13.30% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 8.99%; Nevada has no wage income tax and 8.24%. That income-tax difference can outweigh a chunk of the cost-of-living gap for higher earners.

Full profiles: California ·Nevada. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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