Nevada runs a Residential Recovery Fund that pays a homeowner up to $40,000 when a contractor takes the money and the work goes wrong. The condition is the whole point: the contractor has to have been licensed. Hiring unlicensed does not just carry the usual risk, it removes a $40,000 backstop you would otherwise have had. On costs, auto labor averages $152 an hour here against $132 nationally and attorneys $311.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Auto repair shop labor rateNevada average | $152 per hour |
| Attorney hourly rateNevada average | $311 per hour |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
Where a source publishes figures state by state, this page shows the figure for this state rather than a national average. Where no state-level source exists, it shows the national range and the local factors that move a job within it. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
The Nevada State Contractors Board operates a fund that compensates single-family homeowners when a licensed contractor fails to perform and other routes to recovery have been exhausted. The limits are set: a single claim cannot exceed $40,000, and claims against one contractor cannot exceed $750,000 or 20 percent of the account balance, whichever is less.
Eligibility is narrower than people assume, and worth reading before you hire rather than after. The claimant has to occupy the residence, it has to be a single-family home owned by a natural person, and the work has to have been construction, remodelling, repair or improvement performed by a licensed residential contractor. The application window is four years from completion of the work, or two years after obtaining a Nevada court judgment.
Every part of that turns on the contractor having held a license at the time. A cash price from someone unlicensed is not a discount; it is the price of giving up the fund. Verification takes a minute on the Board's own license search, and it is the single most valuable minute you will spend on a Nevada home project.
Nevada sits above the national figure on both services tracked here, with auto repair labor among the higher states. The table above carries the current numbers with the month each was checked.
Both are labor-only figures. Parts, shop supplies, filing fees and expert costs all sit outside them, which is the single most common reason a final bill surprises someone who only asked for the rate.
For home work, check the NSCB license first and check it yourself rather than accepting a number on a business card. Confirm it is active, and confirm the classification covers what your contract describes.
Ask for the contract in writing with the scope and the payment schedule in it. The recovery fund process runs on documentation, and a handshake job is a job you cannot claim on even if the contractor was licensed.
On any trade, ask what the quoted rate excludes. Nevada's auto shops sit near the top of the national labor range, and on a several-hour job a few dollars an hour is real money before a single part is added.
A fund run by the Nevada State Contractors Board that compensates single-family homeowners when a licensed contractor fails to perform properly and other recovery routes are exhausted. A single claim cannot exceed $40,000, and claims against one contractor cannot exceed $750,000 or 20 percent of the account balance, whichever is less.
No. The work must have been performed by a licensed residential contractor. That single condition is why checking the license before you hire is worth more than any other precaution in this state.
Four years from completion of the work, or two years after obtaining a Nevada court judgment. You also have to occupy the residence, and it has to be a single-family home owned by a natural person.
About $152 an hour on the state average, against a national figure of about $132, which puts Nevada among the higher states. That covers diagnostic and repair labor only; parts and shop supplies are separate.