FACT BRIEFCould a person making minimum wage in Nevada afford to pay an average rental rate in 2025?
No.
Even if a person making minimum wage put all their wages from a 40-hour week toward housing, it would not be enough to afford the average asking rent in Nevada.
The average asking rent in Nevada across all bedroom and housing types in April 2025 is $1,950. Minimum wage in Nevada is $12 an hour. If a Nevadan works 40 hours a week, their monthly income is roughly $1,920 before taxes.
Housing is considered affordable if rent and utilities do not exceed 30 percent of gross (pre-tax) income.
Nevada ranks second in the nation for its percentage of excessively cost-burdened renters, with more than 48 percent paying at least 35 percent of their gross income on housing costs, and sixth in the country for excessively cost-burdened homeowners.
Since 2018, average rents have increased by 55 percent in Clark County and 46.5 percent in Washoe County.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The Nevada Independent partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
- Guinn Center for Policy Priorities Housing Affordability in Nevada: An Economic Analysis and Policy Considerations
- Zillow Nevada Rental Market
- U.S. Depart of Labor Wage and Division
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Glossary of Terms to Affordable Housing
It’s up to all of us to spread the truth.
Nevada lawmakers will be in session until June, and the fate of the bills they are debating will hinge in large part on the quality of the facts they’re working with.
Do free school lunches increase food waste? Do red flag laws reduce suicide rates? Does universal pre-K boost the economy?
We want to bring independent, rigorous fact checks to inform the public and policymakers on these crucial questions. We’re doing it through briefs that clearly answer a question with a yes or no in 150 words or less.
The Nevada Independent is always on the lookout for claims that could use a fact check. But we could use your eyes and ears too. If you're on social media or consuming news and come across a statement that raises questions for you — let us know.
In the meantime, if you think this work is important, please show your support by making a donation of any amount today. Your contributions help us devote more reporters and editors to finding and checking claims, ensuring that Nevadans have the best information possible during this important time in our state’s history.