Who’s to blame for Nevada’s affordability crisis?

Democrats point to the Trump administration for rising costs but also acknowledge the state’s role in affordability issues faced by families.

Democrats and advocacy groups say tariffs and budget cuts backed by President Donald Trump and Republicans are driving up costs in Nevada, squeezing families struggling to afford basics like rent, gas, and food. Now, Nevada is among the most unaffordable states in the country, according to an affordability report published by Defend America Action and Battle Born Progress.

Nevada ranks 49th in the nation for raising a family, according to a recent financial report.

“What we’re seeing right now in terms of the levels of inflation—about three-fourths—is coming directly from the tariffs imposed by the federal government,” said Democratic state Sen. Fabian Doñate.

Doñate was one of eight Democratic legislators who signed the affordability report, which contends that tariffs and federal cuts to food assistance, health coverage, and other social programs are increasing financial hardship for Nevadans.

Democratic Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch, who also signed onto the report, said what’s really happening as a result of the tariffs is the widening of the wealth gap, which is her biggest concern.

“They are charging basically a tax on the American people, all at the whims of one man who has no real understanding of economics,” she said.

The Trump administration imposed sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries on select goods, as well as global sanctions for certain industries, including lumber, steel, car parts, and timber. However, the prices are felt most by consumers and businesses, who pay higher prices to offset these costs.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, consumers paid for 90% of tariff costs on goods and services in 2025. 

Amber Falgout, a spokesperson for Battle Born Progress, told The Nevadan-El Nevadense that she recently felt the effects of tariffs firsthand when she restocked her usual lipstick.

“So I call, and they’re like, ‘oh, yeah, it’s the tariffs,”’ Falgout said. “You pay them.”’

The added fees cost her more than the item itself—an anecdote she believes reflects the broader pressures that Nevada families might be experiencing. 

Data suggest that a similar financial pinch is felt widely. The US Department of Agriculture found that food prices rose 3.9% over the past year. Nevada households are among the most cost-burdened in the country, spending 11.5% of their income on food, according to a November 2025 report by Consumer Affairs.

“I don’t know if you could have written a better way to mess up our economy than what we’ve seen over the last year and a half,” Falgout said of the GOP.

Despite the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump’s tariffs are unconstitutional, Republicans argue that the sanctions could strengthen the US economy by boosting domestic manufacturing jobs and reducing reliance on foreign goods. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who’s up for reelection this year, has backed them.

“It ends up being—jobs, jobs, jobs,” Lombardo said in an interview with Channel 8 News.

Those jobs haven’t come quick enough as Nevada residents grapple with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, in December, standing at 5.2% for joblessness, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report. That’s much higher than the national average of 4.4% held in February 2026.

Trump also promised to tackle inflation during his 2024 campaign for a second term, but Falgout said his administration isn’t solely responsible for the mounting financial strain nationwide. She said Democrats have also struggled to build a clear platform on affordability, even as costs have risen. 

“There hasn’t been a platform that is rooted in the needs of working people for several years,” Falgout said. “And I think that is one of the reasons you are seeing a lot of people move to being Independents.” 

La Rue Hatch acknowledged that affordability issues in Nevada predate the Trump administration, citing a limited social welfare system and a tax structure that lacks an income tax and relies heavily on gaming and mining. She said that both industries have “some of the lowest taxes in the world.” 

“We don’t have an income tax, which a lot of us are very happy about, and I don’t want to change that,”  La Rue Hatch said. “But it means that other states, like California, have a lot more revenue coming in than we do.” 

Amid Nevada’s limited resources, the fallout of war adds another pressure point for families, Doñate said, particularly the conflict in Iran, which has caused gas prices to rise. 

Nevada drivers pay among the highest gas prices in the country, according to recent fuel data. In Clark County, Nevada’s largest, the average price has reached $4.90 per gallon.

Doñate ties gas price fluctuations directly to the Trump administration, citing a recent $6-per-gallon price he paid.

“As these pressure points become more and more severe, what we’re going to notice is more constituents are going to be pushed to the brink,” he said.