Nevada and Utah at a glance
Nevada and Utah share a border, but a paycheck does not travel across it unchanged. A $60,000 salary leaves $25,992 a year after taxes and the four basics in Nevada and $26,440 in Utah.
Utah comes out ahead by $448 a year ($37 a month). The calculation starts from the same gross pay in both states, subtracts federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, then each state's own income tax, and then the population-weighted cost of a one-bedroom rental, groceries, home energy and gasoline across 3,184,612 people in 17 counties in Nevada and 3,392,331 people in 29 counties in Utah.
Taxes: what each paycheck loses
Federal income tax ($5,072) and FICA ($4,590) on $60,000 are the same on both sides of the border. Nevada does not tax wages, while Utah takes $2,346 of a $60,000 salary in state income tax, so take-home pay is $2,346 higher in Nevada.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $78,901 in Nevada and $74,401 in Utah, a difference of $4,500. The gap widens with income because graduated state brackets take a growing share.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $1,397 a month in Nevada and $1,231 in Utah, so Utah is $166 a month cheaper for housing. Food costs $3,436 a year in both, because the USDA Thrifty Food Plan is a national figure; home energy $2,314 and $1,802, and gasoline $1,832 and $1,542. Together the basics cost $24,346 a year in Nevada and $21,552 in Utah.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $78,260 in Nevada and $95,166 in Utah. Homeowners pay a median of $2,027 a year in property tax in Nevada and $2,525 in Utah. Commuters travel 24.8 minutes each way on average in Nevada and 22.1 in Utah.
Method
Taxes use the 2025 rules for a single filer with wage income only and the standard deduction. Housing and living costs are county figures from HUD (one-bedroom Fair Market Rent), the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and state energy prices from the Energy Information Administration, averaged across each state's counties and weighted by population, so large counties count more. Local income taxes are not included. Counties differ widely inside every state, so use the county pages for a specific place.