Native Hawaiians flock to Las Vegas for affordable living..

[DGUtley]

Native Hawaiians flock to Las Vegas for affordable living..

Kona Purdy never wanted to live anywhere but Hawaii. As a Native Hawaiian, he wanted his children to grow up like he did: rooted in their culture, and nourished by the mountains and ocean. But raising a family in Hawaii meant squeezing nine people into a four-bedroom house — rented with extended family — in Waipahu, a Honolulu suburb. It felt cramped, but the Purdys accepted that this was the price to survive in their homeland.

“We stuffed ourselves into one room,” Purdy said of his four-member family’s living arrangements. Their share of the monthly rent was $2,300. When rent increased, the Purdys realized that they could no longer afford to live in Hawaii. “I was so busy working, trying to make ends meet,” he said. “We never took our kids out to the beach. We didn’t go hiking.”

Las Vegas was desirable to the Purdys because it’s a popular vacation destination for Hawaii residents, which meant family would likely visit often. Also, the cost of living is significantly lower. So in 2017, they uprooted their family and moved to Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb in Clark County, where they could afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment for $1,000 a month.

[Peter1469]

Wow. And the cost of living in Las Vegas isn't cheap anymore.

[Standing Wolf]

I'm always seeing articles about how the service folks - the waitresses, cooks, security guards, etc. - in Vegas are barely able to live on the economy, so Vegas (or I guess Henderson, which is 16 miles from Vegas) seems an unlikely destination for a family trying to save money. But I suppose it's all relative, and Hawaii was expensive when I lived there in the '80s - I don't imagine it's gotten any less so. I've got a son stationed in Hawaii now, but he and his family have military housing in Ewa Beach, so he has a huge advantage there.

[Collateral Damage]

I've visited Hawaii several times (back when the Pro Bowl was played there) and 'isn't cheap' doesn't begin to cover it.

Just as us south of the Mason Dixon are getting a large influx of NY/NJ/CT escapees, the COL up there is just about 30% higher than it is down here. So Moving from Hawaii to Nevada is very similar.