Living in Las Vegas: 10 Pros and Cons

Planning on moving to Las Vegas, NV? While Sin City is known as a place to cut loose and embrace your wild side for a weekend or two, making a home here casts this moniker in an entirely new (neon) light. 

A certifiable mecca of spectacle, nightlife, and panoramic natural beauty, living in Las Vegas has its own unique set of perks and drawbacks. This guide will break down five of the pros and cons of making Las Vegas your home base for those on the hunt for  condos or apartments in this animated Southwestern city, including: 

• Pro: World-class entertainment
• Con: You may get partied out
• Pro: Incredible cuisine
• Con: Tight job market
• Pro: Generously low taxes
• Con: Subpar public education
• Pro: Endless summers
• Con: Utilities are steep
• Pro: The outdoors are mind-boggling
• Con: You’ll need a car

Let’s get started! 

Pro: World-class entertainment

It hardly bears mentioning that Las Vegas is a renowned hub of American (and global) entertainment. Whether tame, unbridled, or almost unmentionable, you’ll find the cream of the crop of entertainment in every imaginable tradition, including:

• Comedy
• Casinos
• Magic shows
• Concerts
• Circus
• Musical theatre
• Family-friendly entertainment

Gold-star acts from around the world routinely billet the marquees in this city, from permanent staples like Cirque du Soleil to artists-in-residence like Britney Spears. Whatever flavor of medium you prefer, you’re sure to find a limitless variety of performances in this city.

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Con: You may get partied out

Since Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, Las Vegas has been a magnet for tourists keen on taking part in activities inadmissible in broad daylight. Gambling’s glitzy appeal can, understandably, lose its shine for many residents after a few months of living here. 

But fortunately, there are plenty of ways to stay engaged within Vegas that don’t involve club-hopping, card-counting, or crashing into bed at sunrise, including:

• Zoos and aquariums: This Nevada city is home to several zoos, aquariums, and animal preserves like Lion Habitat Ranch and SeaQuest Las Vegas that educate residents on fauna from the world’s many biospheres.

• Skydiving: Skydiving is a quintessentially Las Vegas pastime, blending extreme sports with extraordinary experiences. There are, remarkably, about a dozen skydiving facilities in the Las Vegas metropolitan area—both outdoor and indoor—many of which are accessible to kids if you have little ones coming along with you. 

• Amusement parks: Vegas is swimming with places to enjoy a thrill. Adventure parks like Adventuredome and water park Cowabunga Bay give Vegas locals and visitors days’ worth of enjoyment with slides, rides, and arcade games.

Yes, the party scene may be the most visible part of city life, but Vegas’ entertainment landscape is constantly in flux. For those intrepid enough to look beyond the obvious diversions of clubs and bars, many hidden alternatives will shake up the usual scene.

Pro: Incredible cuisine

Foodies, rejoice! One of the Las Vegas pros is that it is a haven for the hungry. Opening a restaurant here is a hallmark sign of success for chefs around the world. Those who love to trot the globe via their stomachs will have an endless array of opportunities to try a new cuisine every week if they so choose.

These Vegas restaurants have received high marks from critics and patrons in recent years:

• Every Grain: This sport serves up Taiwanese delicacies headed by James Beard Foundation finalist and star chef Sheridan Su, in friendly, no-frills digs on Charleston Boulevard.

• Bazaar Meat by José Andrés: The SLS Hotel hosts this ultra-upscale carnivore’s delight, where you can order everything from carpaccio to a suckling pig.

• Partage: Just a few minutes away from the Strip, Partage offers tasting menus with three, five, and seven dishes from an expert culinary trifecta, with high marks in fine modern French cuisine.

In addition to the elevated dining experiences available, Vegas is full of delectable, affordable options for diners on every kind of budget. And, if you’re keen on dining for a steal, don’t forget to check out Vegas’ renowned all-you-can-eat-buffets!

Con: A tight job market

Tourism is overwhelmingly the primary industry that engines the city, which means that the city took a weighty hit from the financial casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At present, Vegas’ unemployment rate rests at 14.9%, compared to the nation’s 8.1%. Although the economy is in its refractory period, it’s best to have a secure job lined up (or a remote one you’ll be taking with you) if you’re considering a move to Las Vegas.

Learn more about the cost of living in Las Vegas here!

Pro: Generously low taxes

Nevada on the whole has strikingly low taxation compared to the rest of the country. This means:

• Low property taxes
• No taxes on estates
• No taxes on inheritance

The state’s shallow rates of taxation are, in part, due to its long-haul efforts to develop the state economy beyond its thriving tourism industry and into sectors like tech and health. Las Vegas’ pièce de résistance: Nevada has no income tax!

Con: Subpar public education

Although there are plenty of ways to have fun with little ones, those looking to start a family in this part of Nevada may be discouraged by Nevada’s track record in public schools.

Nevada consistently ranks as one of the lowest-performing educational systems. In 2018, the state bottomed out the list ranking all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., in public K–12 education. 

That said, if you’re not thinking about starting a family just yet, the state’s public school systems may not be an important variable when considering a move to the area.

Pro: Endless summers

One of the Las Vegas pros is the endless summers. This Nevada city rests in the middle of the Mojave Desert, which is ranked as the hottest and most arid landscape in the continental U.S. If you’re partial to warm climates and hearty helpings of sunshine, Las Vegas is a great place for you. 

Winters in the area are brisk and rarely cold. However, as is customary for deserts, temperatures tend to drop after sundown, averaging around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

June through September are the designated summer months in Las Vegas, and while the temperatures can be scorching, humidity remains low. The highest chance of rainfall lies in July and August, when the North American Monsoon can bring abrupt and heavy rainfall to large swaths of the American southwest and northern Mexico.

Con: Utilities are steep

While the blissfully warm weather is one of Las Vegas’ best assets, year-round high temperatures mean Vegas locals will pay more for live-in utilities.

The city’s steepest heat waves roll in around July, with daytime temperatures peaking over 100 degrees Fahrenheit on average. That means monthly bills on air conditioning can be pricey throughout the year. On average, utility bills for a 915-square-foot apartment run residents $167.65 per month, which includes:

• Electricity
• Heating
• Cooling
• Water
• Waste management

A standard high-speed internet connection can be similarly expensive, clocking in at around $74 per month.

Pro: The outdoors are mind-boggling

Nevada, and the American Southwest at large, is a staggeringly beautiful part of the country, and the area is populated with several U.S. National Parks for Nevada residents to enjoy its beauty and outdoor recreation.

Grand Canyon National Park is undoubtedly the best-known park in the area. But, there are a smattering of other parks ready to introduce you to the splendor of your natural surroundings:

• Lake Mead National Recreation Area: This park has an unbelievable 1.5 million acres for Las Vegas residents to enjoy hiking, bouldering, and the rare oasis of Lake Mead in the arid landscape.

• Valley of Fire State Park: The Las Vegas Valley of Fire is an otherworldly landscape filled with petrified wood, enormous red sandstone sculptures, and 150 million years of wind-washed sand dunes.

• Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area: This park is both naturally beautiful and a marvelous place to explore Nevada’s rich indigenous history. Petroglyphs and human-made engravings can be found throughout the park, and hiking trails abound.

• Red Rock Canyon: This preserve is another staggeringly beautiful place to go for a hike, but the Red Rock Canyon is also a wonderful area to drive through and take in the scenery by car.

• Lake Mead and Lake Mohave: You may be surprised to find out that such a parched region of the country boasts its own beach. Lake Mead and Lake Mohave are the local watering holes of Las Vegas, NV, with plenty of aquatic activities from scuba diving to good old-fashioned swimming. 

From horseback riding to hiking, the majestic backcountry landscape of this part of Nevada is unparalleled when it comes to outdoor recreation and natural beauty.

Con: You’ll need a car

In theory, it is possible to get around the Las Vegas area without your own vehicle. The city’s public transit system, RTC, conducts city-goers around the region by bus between Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas.

However, the approval ranking for the city’s public transportation remains low. Your best bet for getting around town and the surrounding areas is to have a car in tow. Gas is priced at around $3.49 per gallon on average, so expect to shell out between $600 and $1,000 on car insurance annually. Uber and Lyft do operate in the area, but can get expensive if you rely on them regularly.

Find your desert oasis in Vegas with Landing

When living in Las Vegas, pros and cons abound. But if the dazzling social atmosphere, luxurious weather, and otherworldly natural surroundings of Las Vegas have you leaning towards a “yes,” you’ll want to find your furnished apartment in Las Vegas with a network you know you can bet on: Landing. Discover everything you need to know about moving to Las Vegas with Landing.