The Winner of Washington’s Looming ‘Millionaires Tax’? Our Bet’s on Las Vegas.

With Washington state’s “millionaires tax” set to take effect in 2028, some of the Evergreen State’s wealthiest residents are considering a move to the more tax-friendly city of Las Vegas. 

This spring, the bill was passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, enacting a flat 9.9% tax on taxable income exceeding $1 million per household. 

Though the tax doesn’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2028, some Washington residents are already considering moving, and Las Vegas has emerged as a favorite for these wealthy Washingtonians. 

Within a month of Ferguson signing the bill, Las Vegas-based luxury real estate adviser Sam Coleman, of IS Luxury, started receiving an uptick in calls from potential home buyers from Washington. 

“In the last week, I’ve had seven people from Mercer Island and very affluent places in Washington reach out directly to prepare for [the tax],” Coleman told Mansion Global in April. “I know every single person that I’ve sold a home to from Washington in the last seven years. Seven [calls] in a week is an anomaly.”

The calls have since continued, he said.

Of all the out-of-state metros with potential home buyers browsing listings in the Las Vegas metro area—which includes neighboring Henderson, home to some of the area’s priciest real estate—the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington, metro ranked No. 5, making up 3.5% of all Vegas listing views during the second quarter, according to cross-market data from Realtor.com. The Seattle area ranked behind two Southern California metros, plus San Jose—all longtime feeders into the Las Vegas market, especially with a billionaire tax on the ballot this November—as well as Phoenix. 

“The California market has always been No. 1. About 75% of the homes that we sell over $5 million are to out-of-state buyers, and 50% of those have always been California, followed by the Pacific Northwest in general,” said Zar Zanganeh, managing partner of the Agency’s Las Vegas brokerage. “But now, it’s definitely just Washington, or Seattle alone, in second place right behind California.” 

Zanganeh spoke to Mansion Global shortly after arriving in Seattle to speak about this trend at two events for the area’s luxury agents, wealth managers and other members of the industry.

Zanganeh started noticing more interest from Washington buyers sometime last year. Since then, the Agency’s offices in Vegas and Henderson, as well as on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, have seen “more than quadrupled the amount of interest from Washington state,” he said. 

Las Vegas has long been attractive to high-net-worth homeowners because of its lack of income tax and low property taxes. Luxury-home buyers also benefit from getting much more house for less money than they would in more expensive markets such as Seattle or Los Angeles. 

The entry point into Las Vegas’s luxury segment, defined as the top 10% of the market, is $1.2 million. Meanwhile in Seattle, that entry price point is a little over $2 million, and in Los Angeles, it’s more than $4 million, according to data provided by Realtor.com senior economist Anthony Smith.

Las Vegas homes in the $1 million to $2 million range are also significantly larger—in Sin City, the median square footage for that price point is 4,600, while in Seattle, it’s 3,600 square feet. 

“You’re getting more for your money in the Vegas metro, and you’re also, of course, paying a much lower price,” Smith said. 

But increasingly, out-of-state home shoppers are being drawn to the Vegas area for more than just the financial benefits. 

The addition of major sports teams—the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders and the forthcoming relocation of MLB team the Athletics—has helped give Las Vegas more of a “hometown feel,” Coleman said. Wealthy homeowners are also being drawn to the area’s private schools.

“It’s becoming a reason to make it home instead of a second-home place,” he added. 

Climate, of course, is also a draw, especially for the Pacific Northwesterners who are tired of dreary rainy days. And unlike other warm, tax-friendly states like Florida, Nevada is much less susceptible to natural disasters that drive up insurance costs.

“We have no mudslides, we have no earthquakes, we have no hurricanes or tornadoes,” Zanganeh said. “Often, [in Florida] they have issues with insurance with condo buildings that either aren’t insurable or the insurance is outrageous cost-wise, so then [home shoppers] start looking at other options, and that’s exactly what a lot of people in Washington state are doing.” 

When shopping for property in the Vegas area, Coleman reported Washington buyers are inquiring about single-story homes or two-story homes with first-floor primary suites, further cementing the idea that many of these buyers are looking to put down long-term roots in Las Vegas. A view is also a priority for these buyers, Coleman added, with a preference to be in proximity to a country club, fine dining and shopping. 

Washington buyers are ready to spend more money than local luxury buyers, too. Coleman said they’re at least spending in the $5 million to $10 million range—a sector of the market that already has tight inventory—while Zanganeh reported seeing deals from “just over $9 million all the way up to the $20 million-plus range.” 

“They’re all in the eight figures,” Zanganeh said. “They’re buying roughly double the price point of Vegas buyers and an even higher average price point than the California millionaire/billionaire types that relocate to Las Vegas.”

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