Living in Reno, NV

"Dangerous" is too broad a label for any city, but Reno does sit above national averages on crime. The violent crime index is 121 and property crime hits 128 — both past the 100-point U.S. baseline. Plenty of residents live comfortably and safely, but they've usually chosen their neighborhoods carefully. If you're considering a move, visit first, drive around at night, and look up crime stats block by block. Data: FBI Uniform Crime Report.

Housing costs in Reno are reasonable. Median rent sits at $1,453/month with median household income at $78,448/year — a 22.2% rent-to-income ratio. That's well within the comfort zone that most financial advisors recommend. It's not dirt cheap, but most working households can afford rent here without financial strain. Other costs like groceries and utilities will vary, but the rent picture is solid. Census ACS 2023 data.

The average worker in Reno spends about 18 minutes getting to the office. Driving solo is the default (67.6%), with 10.8% working remotely and 2.4% on public transit. It's a fairly typical commute — not a selling point, not a dealbreaker.

Not particularly. The climate risk score is 28/100, which puts Reno in the low-risk tier. Drought, Wildfire, and Heat Wave are the most relevant hazards, but none of them are frequent concerns. Standard insurance should have you covered. It's one less thing to worry about if you're comparing this city to higher-risk metros along the coast or in tornado alley. Data from FEMA disaster declarations and NOAA.

Mixed. The city-wide graduation rate is 82.0% and classrooms average 19 students per teacher. Some schools here are legitimately excellent — strong test scores, engaged communities, good resources. Others struggle. The gap between the best and worst is wider than you might expect. Do your homework on individual schools rather than relying on the city-wide number.

Good, overall. The median AQI sits at 45, which falls within the EPA's "Good" category, and Reno logs 250 clean-air days annually. PM2.5 is the main pollutant. Occasional spikes happen — wildfire smoke, temperature inversions, or high-ozone days — but they're the exception, not the rule. Check AirNow.gov during allergy season or summer heat waves.

Everything on this page is built from public government sources: rent and income figures from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS 5-Year Estimates, 2023); commute and transportation data from Census ACS tables B08303 and B08006; crime rates from the FBI Uniform Crime Report; climate risk assessments using FEMA disaster declarations and NOAA storm records; air quality measurements from the EPA's Air Quality System database; school data from the National Center for Education Statistics. We refresh each dataset monthly through an automated pipeline and cross-check for anomalies. No surveys, no user-submitted guesses — just official federal data presented in a way that's actually useful for people researching a move.