Quick answer: Cash to close in Nevada is built mostly from public numbers. The real property transfer tax runs $2.55 per $500 of value in Clark County and $2.05 in Washoe. Most other counties charge $1.95. Recording a deed starts at a $25 statutory base fee. Title insurance rates are filed with the Nevada Division of Insurance, and escrow deposits follow a federal formula. This report documents each piece, county by county, and names the source for every figure.
Almost nothing about cash to close in Nevada is one number statewide. The transfer tax alone changes at the county line. Recording a deed costs $25 by state law before any county surcharge lands on top. Title insurance rates sit in a schedule filed with a regulator that most buyers never see. So this report separates three things. Nevada statute sets some numbers, the state holds others on file, and the rest is negotiated custom. Moreover, where we could not verify a figure against a primary source, we say so instead of guessing. It is written for buyers and sellers comparing counties, and for agents explaining a closing statement. Reporters who want numbers they can check themselves are welcome too.
Key takeaways
- The transfer tax is Nevada's one hard statutory closing number. Current combined rates: $2.55 per $500 of value in Clark County and $2.05 in Washoe. Most other counties charge the $1.95 statewide base, per NRS 375 and the Nevada Department of Taxation.
- Recording starts at $25 everywhere. NRS 247.305 sets the statewide base fee per document. County surcharges raise the counter total: Washoe publishes $43.00, confirmed first-party.
- Title insurance rates are filed, not free-form. NRS 692A.120 requires every insurer's schedule on file with the Division of Insurance before use. A filed statewide schedule dated May 2026 is on record.
- Escrow mechanics are federally capped. The cushion cannot exceed one sixth of annual disbursements. The Loan Estimate must arrive by the third business day after application, and the initial escrow statement within 45 days of settlement.
- Two categories are deliberately absent. Appraisal fees have no citable survey, and no reliable statewide who-pays table exists. We publish the gaps instead of guesses.
- Only one default is set by law. Buyer and seller are jointly and severally liable for the transfer tax under NRS 375.030. Every other allocation is contract negotiation.
What does cash to close in Nevada actually include?
Cash to close is the total a buyer wires to escrow before the keys change hands. Structurally, it has two sides. One side is the loan itself and its terms. Those depend on your program and your file, so this report deliberately leaves them out. No rate, no APR, and no payment figure appears below. The other side is the cost structure of the transaction: government charges, regulated services, and prepaid reserves. That side is built almost entirely from public numbers, and public numbers can be checked.
This report documents that second side in three buckets. First, government charges: the real property transfer tax and county recording fees. Second, regulated services, led by title insurance, whose rates are filed with the state. Third, the escrow and prepaid mechanics that federal rules cap by formula. Where a category has no reliable published figure, we say so rather than borrow a guess from a marketing page. Still deciding the loan side? Our guide to conventional loans in Las Vegas covers the program rules. Meanwhile, this page stays on the costs.
How much is the real property transfer tax in Nevada?
This is the one closing cost in Nevada with a hard statutory number attached everywhere in the state. The mechanism stacks. NRS 375.020 sets a base rate that varies with county population. NRS 375.023 adds a statewide layer. Then NRS 375.026 lets a smaller county adopt an optional add-on by ordinance. The Nevada Department of Taxation publishes the combined result: $1.95 for every $500 of value, or part of one, statewide. Washoe and Churchill Counties add $0.10 on top, and Clark County adds $0.60.
Nevada's real property transfer tax is not one number. It runs from $1.95 to $2.55 per $500 of value depending on the county, and the difference on the same sale price is real money.
Current combined rate by county
Here are the current combined rates in the three counties this report tracks. Each is confirmed on the state's or the county's own page:
| County | Rate per $500 of value | On a $450,000 sale (illustrative arithmetic, not a quote) |
|---|---|---|
| Clark | $2.55 | $2,295 |
| Washoe | $2.05 | $1,845 |
| Nye | $1.95 | $1,755 |
Sources: the state transfer tax FAQ, the Recorders Association of Nevada, and the Washoe and Nye recorders' own pages. All were retrieved August 6, 2026. Every Nevada county not named above charges the $1.95 statewide base unless it has adopted a local add-on. Churchill County matches Washoe at $2.05, per the state FAQ.
The worked example, by hand
Take a $450,000 sale. (Illustrative figures only: the arithmetic is the point, not the price.) Divide the price by $500 to get 900 increments. The statute taxes each increment or any fraction of one. So a price that is not an even multiple of $500 rounds up to the next increment. Then multiply. In Clark County, 900 × $2.55 = $2,295. The same sale runs 900 × $2.05 = $1,845 in Washoe and 900 × $1.95 = $1,755 in Nye. Same price, three different tax bills, every one of them checkable against a public rate.
Who actually pays it
Nevada law makes the buyer and seller jointly and severally liable for this tax. NRS 375.030 says so directly. It also directs the county recorder to compute and collect the tax before accepting the deed for recordation. In practice, the purchase contract assigns it to one side. Which side takes it is a negotiated term, not a statutory rule. Either way, the recorder collects the tax once.
Exemptions exist
NRS 375.090 lists fourteen situations where the tax does not apply. They include transfers to government entities, certain family transfers, and transfers into some trusts. This report does not walk through all fourteen. If you think one might apply to your transfer, ask your escrow officer. Have them check the statute before you assume the standard math.
How much does it cost to record a deed in Nevada?
Nevada sets a $25 base fee to record a document by statute. What you actually pay at the counter is higher everywhere in the state, because every county adds its own legislatively authorized surcharges on top. The base lives in NRS 247.305. The add-ons fund programs the Legislature has named. Among them: indigent legal services, a foster care assistance fund, court-appointed investigators, and county technology funds.
What we can confirm today
| County | Total recording fee, standard document | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide base | $25 | Statutory, NRS 247.305, applies before county surcharges |
| Washoe | $43.00 per document | Confirmed on the Washoe County Recorder's own published fee schedule |
| Clark | Commonly cited at $42.00 | Confirmed on Clark's own page for one specific filing type; the general total is corroborated by a third party but not yet read from Clark's own fee table |
| Nye | Not yet confirmed | Nye's own fee schedule document was unavailable when we checked. We are not guessing at a number |
We publish this table with its gaps stated on purpose. A recording fee that is wrong by a few dollars is a worse thing to hand a reader than one marked not yet confirmed. We will update the table the moment Clark's and Nye's own schedules are readable. The revision will carry a date.
Notably, two of these line items follow the loan rather than the sale. Recording charges and a lender's title policy apply to a refinance as well. That is because a refinance records a new deed of trust. The transfer tax does not apply there: NRS 375.010 expressly excludes a deed of trust that encumbers real property from its definition of a taxable deed. If that is the transaction you are weighing, here is what a refinance actually involves in Las Vegas.
Want these numbers run on a real transaction?
Tell us the county and the price. We will walk you through the fee side of your closing line by line, with the sources open. Valley West Mortgage is a Las Vegas mortgage lender, and it is a ten minute conversation. No cost, and no obligation.
Get a fast quoteHow are title insurance rates set in Nevada?
By filing, not by menu. NRS 692A.120 requires every title insurer to file its complete schedule of rates and charges before use. The filing goes to the Nevada Division of Insurance, and no insurer or agent may charge outside it. NRS 692A.130 even sets the typography. Filed schedules must be printed in type no smaller than 10 point, and dated to show when they take effect. Nevada currently has a statewide filed title insurance rate schedule on record with the Division, dated May 2026.
Here is the honest gap. We could not extract a specific dollar rate from that filed schedule in a form we are willing to publish as verified. Premiums are calculated from the filed manual against the policy's liability amount. That is roughly the purchase price for an owner's policy, or the loan amount for a lender's policy. Additionally, the exact schedule varies by underwriter within the filings. Rather than dress an estimate up as a fact, we name the regulatory structure precisely. We will add the filed figures once we have a verified read of the manual. Are you a title professional or a reporter with a clean, current read of the schedule? We would genuinely like to see it. This page is built to take that correction.
What did we leave out of this report, and why?
Two categories, both on purpose. Publishing an unsupported number would undercut the one thing this page is for.
Appraisal fees
Every Nevada appraisal fee we found online came from a real estate or appraisal company's own marketing page. None disclosed a sample size, a data source, or a methodology. No two pages even agreed on a bracket. That is not a survey, it is a guess dressed as a range. Consequently, the category stays out entirely until a published survey with a stated methodology exists.
A single statewide who-pays table
Search for who customarily pays closing costs in Nevada and you will find confident, contradictory answers. Some guides even state Clark's and Washoe's own transfer tax rates backwards. Nevada law fixes exactly one default in this area: joint liability for the transfer tax. Even that is contract negotiable. Everything else, from the owner's title policy to the escrow fee split, is local custom and negotiation. It genuinely varies deal to deal. For how that negotiation actually plays out, including seller concessions and lender credits, see who pays which closing costs in Nevada.
How do prepaids and escrow work at closing?
Separate from the fees above, most Nevada mortgages fund an escrow account at closing. That way, property taxes and homeowners insurance get paid automatically going forward. The CFPB's plain-language explainer puts it simply. You pay those bills monthly, as part of the mortgage payment, instead of in large lump sums. Federal rules set the mechanics. Your own tax bill and insurance premium set the size.
The three federal rules that govern it
Estimates arrive early, by rule. 12 CFR 1026.19(e) sets the clock. The lender must deliver or mail a Loan Estimate no later than the third business day after receiving your application. Surprise costs at the signing table are exactly what that deadline exists to prevent.
The initial escrow deposit is capped by formula. Under 12 CFR 1024.17, the deposit follows a formula. It is sized so the account's lowest projected month-end balance over the coming year is zero, plus a cushion. That cushion may not exceed one sixth of the estimated annual disbursements from the account. In industry shorthand, about two months' worth.
You get a statement, not a surprise. For accounts established as a condition of the loan, the servicer must deliver an initial escrow account statement. The deadline is settlement itself, or 45 calendar days after it.
Notice what none of this tells you: a dollar figure. The amount depends entirely on your property tax bill and your insurance premium. What the rules guarantee is that the formula is federally capped, not something a servicer can pad at will.
Valley West takeEvery Nevada closing statement mixes three kinds of numbers, and they do not deserve equal trust. Statutory numbers, like the transfer tax, you can check to the penny before you write an offer. Filed numbers, like title rates, are verifiable in principle but opaque in practice. This report says so where we hit that wall ourselves. Negotiated numbers are whatever the contract says, and no blog table can tell you how yours will land. We have been lending in Las Vegas since 2004, across 32 states and DC. The closings that go smoothly are the ones where the buyer knew, before signing day, which of the three they were reading.
How this report was built
Every figure above traces to a named primary source. That means a Nevada Revised Statute, a county's own fee schedule, or a state or federal regulator's own page. The full list sits at the end of this report. We fetched each source directly on August 6, 2026. We quoted from the landed page, rather than copying a secondary summary. The single exception is labeled inline. Clark County's general recording total is corroborated by a third party. However, we have not yet read it from the county's own table.
Two categories were omitted outright, because no primary source exists in a form we would publish. Those are appraisal fee ranges and a statewide customary who-pays table. A third, title insurance premiums, appears as regulatory structure without a dollar figure. The filed schedule could not be verifiably extracted on this pass. In each case we would rather show the gap than fill it with a number we cannot defend.
This page is reviewed and re-pulled quarterly. Any figure that changes gets a dated revision note, not a silent edit. Corrections are welcome and get credited. If a county schedule, a filed manual, or a statute contradicts anything above, send us the primary source.
Reporters get the sources. Buyers get the walkthrough.
If you are covering Nevada housing costs, everything above is yours to check and cite. If you are buying or refinancing, we will translate the same public numbers onto your own transaction. Side by side, with the rules cited. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Get a fast quoteFrequently asked questions
The taxes and fees
How much is the real property transfer tax in Clark County, Nevada?
Clark County collects $2.55 for each $500 of value, or fraction of one, per the Nevada Department of Taxation and the Recorders Association of Nevada. On a $450,000 sale, that is illustrative arithmetic of 900 increments times $2.55, or $2,295. Most Nevada counties charge the $1.95 statewide base instead.
Who pays the transfer tax in Nevada, the buyer or the seller?
Nevada law makes the buyer and seller jointly and severally liable under NRS 375.030, and the county recorder collects the tax before recording the deed. In practice, the purchase contract assigns it to one side. That assignment is a negotiated term of the contract, not a rule set by statute.
How much does it cost to record a deed in Nevada?
State law sets a $25 base fee per document under NRS 247.305. Counties then add legislatively authorized surcharges, so the total at the counter is higher. Washoe County publishes $43.00 per document. We have not yet confirmed Clark's or Nye's general totals on their own schedules, and this report says so.
Are title insurance rates regulated in Nevada?
Yes. NRS 692A.120 requires every title insurer to file its complete schedule of rates and charges with the Nevada Division of Insurance before use, and no insurer or agent may charge outside the filed schedule. A statewide filed schedule dated May 2026 is on record with the Division.
The federal mechanics
How big can an escrow cushion be on a mortgage?
Federal rule 12 CFR 1024.17 caps the cushion at one sixth of the estimated annual disbursements from the account, roughly two months' worth. The initial deposit follows a formula that targets a lowest projected balance of zero, and the servicer owes you an initial escrow statement at settlement or within 45 calendar days.
Does Nevada's transfer tax apply when I refinance?
No. NRS 375.010 defines the taxable deed, and it expressly excludes a deed of trust or common-law mortgage instrument that encumbers real property. A standard refinance records a new deed of trust rather than a conveyance deed, so no transfer tax is due. Recording fees and a lender's title policy still apply.
The bottom line
Cash to close in Nevada is knowable, but only in layers. The transfer tax is statutory and checkable to the penny. It is $2.55 per $500 in Clark, $2.05 in Washoe, and $1.95 across most of the state. Recording starts at a $25 statutory base and rises with county surcharges. Title insurance is filed with a regulator, escrow deposits follow a federal formula, and nearly everything else is negotiation. Every figure here carries a source you can open yourself, and every gap is labeled as a gap. When you are ready to put the loan side next to your cost side, we are here.
Sources
Nevada statutes and agencies
- NRS Chapter 375: NRS 375.010 (definition of a taxable deed), NRS 375.020, 375.023 and 375.026 (rates and local option), NRS 375.030 (collection and joint liability), NRS 375.090 (exemptions). Fetched August 6, 2026: leg.state.nv.us
- NRS 247.305: the $25 statewide base recording fee. Fetched August 6, 2026: nevada.public.law
- Nevada Department of Taxation, Real Property Transfer Tax FAQs: the $1.95 statewide rate and the county additions. Fetched August 6, 2026: tax.nv.gov
- Recorders Association of Nevada, Property Transfer Tax. Fetched August 6, 2026: recordersassociationofnevada.org
- Washoe County Recorder, Real Property Transfer Tax ($2.05 per $500) and Schedule of Fees ($43.00 per document). Fetched August 6, 2026: washoecounty.gov and schedule of fees
- Nye County, Real Property Transfer Tax ($1.95 per $500). Fetched August 6, 2026: nyecountynv.gov
- Clark County Recorder, fee pages. Fetched August 6, 2026; the county's full fee table PDF was not machine-readable on this pass: clarkcountynv.gov
- NRS Chapter 692A: NRS 692A.120 (schedules filed before use) and NRS 692A.130 (printing and dating). Fetched August 6, 2026: leg.state.nv.us
- Nevada Division of Insurance, Nevada Schedule of Title Insurance Rates, filed manual dated May 2026. Identified and live; not text-extractable on this pass: docs.nv.gov
Federal rules
- 12 CFR 1026.19(e)(1)(iii): Loan Estimate delivery no later than the third business day after application. Fetched August 6, 2026: law.cornell.edu
- 12 CFR 1024.17: the escrow deposit formula, the one-sixth cushion cap, and the 45-day initial statement. Fetched August 6, 2026: law.cornell.edu
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What is an escrow or impound account? Fetched August 6, 2026: consumerfinance.gov
Across Valley West: The loan side of cash to close depends on the program you choose. See the VA route to a Nevada closing, where FHA fits for Las Vegas buyers, and the conventional side of the ledger. For the homeowners policy your escrow account will pay, our insurance agency can quote it.
Keep reading
- Closing costsWho pays closing costs in Nevada?Concessions, credits, and the negotiation side of the same ledger.
- RefinanceRefinancing in Las VegasWhich of these costs return on a refinance, and which never apply.
- ProgramsConventional loans in Las VegasThe loan side of the closing math, program rules included.
- BudgetingHow much house can you afford?Work the monthly side before you work the closing side.
Last updated: August 6, 2026. First edition of this report. Every rate, fee, statute citation, and regulatory deadline above was fetched and verified against the named primary source on August 6, 2026: NRS chapters 375, 247 and 692A, the Nevada Department of Taxation, the Washoe and Nye county recorders, Clark County's recorder pages, the Recorders Association of Nevada, the Nevada Division of Insurance filing index, and 12 CFR 1026.19 and 1024.17. This report contains no rate, APR, or payment figure by design, and all dollar math is illustrative arithmetic on published public rates.
