In Vegas, you can buy just about anything.
For $795, you can get dead skin scrubbed off your face with diamonds before a Machu Picchu-inspired massage. For $2,250, a Humvee will drive you across town to get in the driver's seat of a tank, then roll it across the pavement to flatten a car. For $4,736, you and a friend can celebrate Halloween rocking out to Metallica inside the Sphere's snake pit.
For six figures, you can stay in a two-story suite designed by the United Kingdom's richest artist, complete with 24/7 butler service and two bull sharks encased in formaldehyde. Drop another hundred grand on the Wynn's F1 experience to walk on the racetrack like Beyoncé and slurp oysters while watching cars whiz through the race's best turn.
Or, more likely, you never bought any of that.
Perhaps that's why, with fewer visitors travelling to Vegas, headlines proclaimed the city "dead." National outlets such as Slate and The New York Times have questioned what's wrong, pointing the finger at the Canadian boycott brought on by President Donald Trump's hostility, the economic fallout of tariffs and 2026's favorite keyword: affordability.
But while visitation was down in 2025, gaming revenue was flat — suggesting that casinos are squeezing more money out of fewer tourists.
The ones who can afford it.
While Vegas offers once-in-a-lifetime experiences to those who can pay, many Americans are struggling. Since the 2024 election, when many expressed concerns about the economy despite most indicators looking good, the K-shaped economy — named for the way the disparity between rich and poor mimics the letter's arms — has grown more pronounced. The top 10 percent of earners now account for nearly half of consumer spending, more than ever before, according to the data available. Thanks to inflation, wealth skyrocketed for people who own houses or stocks, while those without have seen their purchasing power plummet. Meanwhile, upper-middle class incomes are rising much faster than median ones.
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), recognizes the challenge.
"Our folks who are living on a budget … are having to make choices around paying for the necessities in life versus paying for discretionary purchases that they might be interested in," Hill said. "Las Vegas is a very discretionary destination. We're just seeing some of those folks either not be able to, or choose not to, spend their money that way."
American corporations are responding accordingly. Airlines are cashing in on premium products but selling fewer economy tickets. Aspirational fashion is increasingly out of reach for midmarket consumers. Even Disney World has come to symbolize the decline of the middle class.
If Las Vegas is Disney World for adults, it's no surprise that the city's offerings are becoming more tailored to the top as well. Resorts, in particular, have become more focused on reeling in the big fish.
It really is the middle class that's been priced out.
— Jennifer Gay, a popular content creator known as Vegas Starfish
Jennifer Gay, who goes by Vegas Starfish online, has one of the largest audiences of any Vegas content creator, with 1.8 million followers on TikTok.
"You've still got businesses in the luxury sector that are continuing to double down on, you know, 'Yes, the poors might be having trouble, but like, we still have this $10,000 hotel suite if you want it,'" she said in an interview with The Nevada Independent.
Gay said she recently talked with Tao Group Hospitality co-CEO Jason Strauss, who said his well-known restaurants and nightclubs are doing fine "despite all the doom and gloom."
"The people who have the money to spend are continuing to spend it," she said. "It really is the middle class that's been priced out."
'It kind of feels like extortion, and it's not fun'
Gay said that Vegas is charging high prices but failing to deliver great experiences. She named Papi Steak, an ostentatious eatery in the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Though she's generally a huge fan of the resort, one item on the menu particularly offended her: a 55-ounce Australian wagyu tomahawk presented in a briefcase.
"It's a thousand-dollar 'beef case,' and they cure for you, and they bring out what is a relatively ordinary piece of meat that you could purchase at Costco for probably a hundred bucks," she said, "It's designed for corporate expense accounts to create this sort of [Instagram]-worthy moment that is just ridiculous, but it has sort of become synonymous with Vegas."
But it isn't the headline-grabbing luxuries that really frustrate her and her followers; it's the exorbitant resort fees that have driven up basic costs.
"It kind of feels like extortion, and it's not fun," Gay said. "You don't feel good about handing over your money, and it creates resentment. … I checked into Planet Hollywood three weeks ago, and my resort fee was $62.30 per night. … $62.30 is a lot for a fee that covers, essentially, access to the fax machine."
Another popular content creator, Jacob Orth, has also seen a transformation. After visiting as a kid and moving to the city 13 years ago, he began making videos and has amassed more than 400,000 subscribers on his JacobslifeinVegas YouTube channel, where he reveals money-saving hacks and rip-offs to avoid.
"There's less free options than there used to be," Orth said in an interview. "The city has certainly changed. Certain properties on the Strip have catered more toward that higher-end clientele, because they've just found that one guy in a high-limit room playing blackjack by himself is worth a lot more than five guys in the main casino that are playing $15 a hand."
One of Orth's most viral videos, Why Nobody Wants To Visit Las Vegas Right Now, highlights how "Las Vegas is not what it used to be." He mentions the 2024 closure of Ocean One Bar & Grille (which once delivered a $6 lunch on the Strip), $55 resort fees, hidden concession fees, slot machines replacing table games that return more money to players and blackjack tables with worse odds than traditional ones. In response, one commenter wrote: "I paid $43 for a burger, fries and drink in March. I'll never go back."
"It's a pretty bad state when the mafia ran Vegas better, and more honest, than the corporations," wrote another commenter.
Orth told The Nevada Independent he's found dirty rooms and stained toilets at budget and high-end Strip properties, though he did stress that several still offer deals.
"The challenge, though, if you're staying at, like, Excalibur, Luxor, those places, you might get a cheap room, but food in those places is going to be pricier," he said. "A lot of the other stuff is going to wind up eating into your budget."
One frequent visitor from Arizona — a former tech employee who requested anonymity because his family does not know he retired early — told The Nevada Independent he still lives frugally and visits mostly to play profitable poker. He brings "a backpack with snacks" to help dodge high food prices.
Many can't afford a visit at all. The median American household income is slightly above $80,000 per year, but LVCVA data released in March indicates that that segment of the population makes up just 6 percent of visitors, a significant drop-off compared to two years ago. The share of visitors in the highest income bracket, making at least $150,000, has more than doubled in the same period.
Visitors who can expense their trips are still coming.
"Business travel hasn't taken a huge hit," said Andrew Woods, director of UNLV's Center for Business and Economic Research. "We don't see them necessarily cutting back on expenses to conventions in Vegas. We don't see it necessarily in gaming revenue, which that's a different kind of visitor."
Other evidence suggests a growing reliance on rich visitors. High-end baccarat, a game favored by wealthy players, which can cost $5,000 per hand at the low-end, helped keep the Strip above water last summer.
According to the Gaming Control Board, in 2024, Strip baccarat players wagered almost $8.7 billion on the game, with the casinos holding 15.7 percent of all bets — more than $1.36 billion. In 2025, Strip casinos took in nearly the same amount of wagers, but held 16.3 percent of all bets, resulting in revenue of $1.4 billion.
The luxury properties, they're all doing exceptionally well.
— Steve Hill, LVCVA CEO
Wynn Resorts also provides an illustrative example. The company owns and operates Wynn and Encore, two of the most luxurious hotels in Las Vegas. Just last month, Wynn opened an elite, members-only club overlooking its golf course, replete with wine lockers, cigar humidors and a fine art collection. On the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call, CEO Craig Billings highlighted how the company has always focused on "exceptional product and service for the world's most discerning customers."
"By any kind of historical standards, Wynn Las Vegas is absolutely crushing it," Billings said. An accompanying presentation highlighted a profitability metric that has grown three times faster than its Strip peers.
Added the LVCVA's Hill: "If you look at the properties in Las Vegas that cater to higher-income visitors, the luxury properties, they're all doing exceptionally well. I think most, or all of them, set records in 2025."
A Nevada Independent analysis found yet another sign of the divide: private jet travel. Data from Harry Reid International Airport shows that the number of passengers fell 5.9 percent last year. But the number of visitors flying private climbed, while the number travelling on budget airlines fell far more precipitously.
One small ultralow cost carrier, Avelo, shuttered Vegas operations in August. Spirit Airlines, previously Reid Airport's second-most-traveled air carrier, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year and ended several of its routes in the market.
'We're missing the mass market'
Decades ago, Vegas had a very different reputation.
"It's interesting, as an adult, what stays with you as a kid, but I remember there being an all-you-can-eat buffet," said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) in an unrelated interview about his recent political travel to Nevada. "And it was relatively inexpensive for families. We grew up middle class, not hard-up in terms of struggling to make payments, but not — had to watch, when you took family trips, every dollar."
The city is, or at least was, a place regular Americans could count on for a dose of escapism.
"Las Vegas, to a large extent, was aspirational," said Oliver Lovat, who works with Vegas casinos on resort development strategy. "You could save up, and you could go to Las Vegas, and for three days, you could be treated like a millionaire.
"But if you want to go now to Las Vegas and have some of those experiences, you really have to be quite wealthy."
In the 2010s, observers began to notice signs that Las Vegas might lose its reputation as a value destination.
"When we started charging for parking on the Strip, that was the first sign that things were changing, because Vegas is always known as a moderately priced vacation experience for middle-income and working-class families," said economist John Restrepo, who moved to Vegas more than 35 years ago. "And one of those features of that was free parking."
In 2016, casinos introduced triple zero roulette, which reduces players' odds of winning. Many didn't notice and kept playing, losing money just a little faster. Even so, Strip revenue was no longer so reliant on gaming, which could be accessible even at a low price point. Instead, young tourists opted for what content creator Gay called "big, experiential things that you can buy into 'for the plot.'" But controlling the Bellagio fountains or renting out a cabana at LIV Beach doesn't come cheap.
You are making it out of reach to more people by design.
— Megan Greenwell, the author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream
Meanwhile, private equity entered the picture.
"This huge swath of the Strip has been swallowed up," said Megan Greenwell, the author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream.
VICI Properties, a real estate investment trust created out of the 2017 Caesars Entertainment bankruptcy reorganization, now controls 10 gaming and non-gaming properties on the Strip, including six operated by MGM Resorts International.
MGM, which manages the resorts and venues, pays VICI nearly $1.1 billion in annual rent — which also covers MGM-operated casinos in other states — and is responsible for all facets of the operations. In some cases, the leases require MGM to reinvest a certain percentage of revenue back into the properties.
"A good way to think of how private equity deals work is essentially house flipping," said Greenwell. "You are making it out of reach to more people by design, because you want to fancy it up a little, and you want to get a lot more money out of it."
UNLV's Woods said the deals could constrain resorts in addressing a "changing customer environment."
"Part of Vegas as DNA is we are constantly supposed to be kind of evolving, changing, pivoting, blowing things up, building it back up," he said.
Hill, on the other hand, said he is not aware of any effect private equity has had on pricing.
"They don't have any voice in how the property is operated, and they don't try," said Hill, noting that Apollo Global Management is the only private equity that operates Strip resorts — The Venetian and Palazzo.
"Venetian's been doing great," Hill said. "I don't have exact numbers, because they're not publicly traded at this point, but whatever pricing they're charging is working for them."
In a statement emailed to The Nevada Independent, Patrick Nichols, president and chief executive officer of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, did not mention the role of private equity in the resort's "continued momentum."
"Sustained success is built through intention, how you invest, how you evolve, and how you empower people," he said.
As Vegas began to rebound from the tourism collapse following the outbreak of COVID-19, middle-class tourists flush with cash from pandemic savings and government stipends traveled to the city.
But with costs up, those guests weren't necessarily the kind of customers resorts wanted. These days, the newest resorts are five-star destinations, leaning into more expensive offerings. The end of 2025 marked the opening of Michelin-starred Indian restaurant Gymkhana at the Aria and Carbone Riviera at the Bellagio; many cheaper options were gone.
"More than anything else, a lot of the loss leaders were eliminated from the operating model," Lovat said. "So where you had discount buffets aplenty, those loss leaders are no longer in the market, especially on the Strip."
Las Vegas also began to lean on special events such as conventions, concerts and sports — replete with higher prices. The Sphere opened in 2023 and charged $19 for a beer.
"Las Vegas, a decade ago, was known for people coming here to have a great time, to escape their worries," Plaza Hotel & Casino CEO Jonathan Jossel said. "Gamble, drink, have a great experience of a show or a nightclub. And today, Las Vegas has just become very heavily dependent on events."
"I mean, the Sphere's one of the greatest attractions, maybe ever made, it's unbelievable, but it's extremely expensive to go to it," he continued. "And I think the problem with that is the city's become overdependent on events that are very expensive, and therefore only certain people are coming to those. But we're missing the mass market."
Does Vegas need the middle class?
Of the nearly dozen people who spoke to The Nevada Independent for this story, several mentioned the LVCVA's "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" campaign late last year as a turning point. Its opening ad features a woman stepping out of a drab office onto the Fremont Street Experience, a neon-covered outdoor mall in downtown, which is known for cheaper gambling than the Strip. In the background, $17.99 lobster and $15.99 prime rib beckon.
"We're seeing a lot of Strip clientele that used to be more comfortable on the Strip, but now maybe feels it's become overpriced, it's become less personal, and the opportunity for us here in downtown has been to continue to provide value and great service," said Jossel, whose property stands at the west end of the Fremont Street Experience.
Jossel mentioned that he offers customers, many from the Midwest, all-inclusive packages much like tourists would find on cruises. Circa Resorts CEO Derek Stevens, who owns three downtown properties, recently launched a promotion to allow tourists to exchange Canadian dollars one-for-one for U.S. dollars. Neighborhood casinos, such as properties operated by Red Rock Resorts and Boyd Gaming, are thriving, with leaders boasting about taking business from the Strip.
"They are absolutely killing it, and they're doing that by consistently offering good value to consumers," Gay said of Red Rock's half dozen properties, which include Red Rock Resort, Green Valley Ranch Resort and Durango Casino Resort. "Free parking, affordable dining opportunities, I think it's $1.99 margaritas, just things that really make everyone feel like they can have a luxury experience."
In an October earnings call, MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle expressed regret for the $12 coffees that have sparked ire. Gay said MGM, which generally ignores her because she can be critical of the company, recently reached out about a partnership.
"They said, 'Hey, we have this all-inclusive package. We really think your followers would like it. Would you like to come experience it yourself?'" she recounted.
She ultimately declined because she didn't want to compromise her content by accepting freebies. But she still thought it was a great deal and made a video about it on her own dime. Gay said these kinds of deals "have never really been done in Vegas" and the fact that companies like MGM are now introducing them — and are eager to highlight them — makes her hopeful.
On Thursday, Caesars became the second Strip operator to announce a summer all-inclusive package involving rooms and entertainment options at Harrah's Las Vegas, Linq and Flamingo.
"I think there's a general consensus in the C-suites in the resort industry that 'Maybe we pushed it a little bit too far in pricing,' and now they're adjusting," Restrepo said.
Even Wynn has adjusted, scrapping triple-zero roulette.
Less people are coming, but the people that are coming are spending more.
— Oliver Lovat, who works with Vegas casinos on resort development strategy
Other factors outside direct control of casinos are still contributing to Las Vegas' tourism slump. Restrepo highlighted the lack of developable land and workforce issues. Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, and many Washington Democrats blame the Trump administration's sometimes-violent immigration enforcement operation and policy that deters international travel.
Hill said federal policy has had mixed effects and said that, based on preliminary estimates from Tourism Economics' proprietary model, visits from Mexico have actually increased. But he agrees that Trump's policies seem to have repelled Canadian visitors on principle, and potentially other travelers due to burdensome paperwork.
"In a number of different ways, decisions that are being made in D.C., not because of tourism, but very much affecting tourism, are making it both harder to get here, and more concerning," Hill said.
Still, he's optimistic. Visitation was up in February for the first time since 2024.
"Even without the efforts that Las Vegas is putting in right now to recover, we're still Las Vegas," he said. "We are still going to be fine. What we are going through is a slowdown."
The class divide is a stickier problem.
Inequality has been growing in America for decades and has left ordinary people angry. For now, staring down impossible mortgages, high gas prices and skyrocketing health care costs — the "affordability" issues that have recently animated Washington — a trip to Vegas has become less an escape and more another expense to manage.
"Resorts are no longer looking to try and get occupancies as high as possible," Lovat said. "Less people are coming, but the people that are coming are spending more, and that's probably ultimately, especially for those higher-end properties, the right strategy."
Howard Stutz contributed to this report.