Nevada Cost-Burdened Households Increase by 106K Over 10 Years

In Nevada, approximately 467,000 households (38% of all households in the state) are cost burdened, meaning they spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs that include rent or mortgage payments and utilities. This share is well above the national average of about 31%.

In 2014, Nevada had 361,000 cost-burdened households. Over the past decade, that number has risen by roughly 106,000.

The burden falls much more heavily on renters than on homeowners. In 2024, 58% of renter households were cost burdened, compared with only 27% of owner households, a difference of more than 30%. Both rates are higher than the national averages (50% for renters and 24% for owners) and have risen over the last 10 years, when 49% of renters and 25% of owners were cost burdened. Across Nevada’s major metropolitan areas, more than half of renters are cost burdened: 56% in the Las Vegas area and 50% in the Reno area.

Nationwide, the worst states for housing affordability are California, with 41% of households considered cost burdened, followed by Hawaii at 38%. The best states, where the fewest households are cost burdened, are West Virginia at 21% and North Dakota at 22%.

Nevada’s high housing cost burdens highlight a deepening affordability issue that strains families, exacerbates inequality, and hampers economic mobility. With rents rising far faster than wages, policy action is needed. Expanding the supply of affordable housing, reforming zoning laws to accelerate new construction, and strengthening renter protections could ease these growing pressures.