Las Vegas City Guide
ABA Programs in Las Vegas
Las Vegas is served by one university program, one school district covering the entire metropolitan area, and a licensing board Nevada set up in 2009 — earlier than almost any other state. This guide covers the ABA programs in Las Vegas, what a standalone behavior analyst board changes, and how a 24-hour service economy shapes the caseload.
Key Takeaways
- 01UNLV's M.Ed. in Special Education with an Applied Behavioral Analysis track is the only ABA program based in the metro, at 36 credits and $383 per credit hour in-state — among the cheapest public rates in the western United States.
- 02Nevada has licensed behavior analysts since 2009, through a standalone Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board. Only a handful of states set up a dedicated board for the profession rather than adding it to an existing one.
- 03The state's ABAI-accredited program is at the University of Nevada, Reno — accredited at bachelor's, master's and doctoral level — but Reno is 450 miles north, which makes it a relocation rather than an alternative.
- 04Clark County School District is one of the largest school districts in the United States and covers the entire metropolitan area. In most metros school-based work means choosing among a dozen districts; here it means one employer.
- 05The metro median is $55,060 (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 21-1018) against prices level with the national average, though housing runs 15.5% above it.
Las Vegas is a one-program metro with an unusually settled regulatory framework. UNLV runs the only ABA offering based in Clark County: an Applied Behavioral Analysis track inside its M.Ed. in Special Education, 36 credits at $383 per credit hour for Nevada residents. That is among the cheapest public graduate rates in the western United States, and for a metro of 2.4 million it is the entire local supply.
Nevada, on the other hand, was early and deliberate about licensing. The Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board has licensed behavior analysts since 2009 — earlier than all but a handful of states, and structured as a board dedicated to the profession rather than a psychology board absorbing it. That tends to mean rules written by people who do the work.
Two local features shape practice more than they would elsewhere. Clark County School District is one of the largest in the country and covers the whole metro, so school-based employment means one organization rather than a field of districts. And the metro's economy runs around the clock: a large share of parents work nights, swing shifts and weekends, which changes when caregiver training is possible and makes scheduling a live clinical problem rather than an administrative one.
Metro scope
Includes: Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Paradise, Spring Valley, Sunrise Manor, Enterprise, Boulder City. The Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas metro, which is Clark County — the Strip and its unincorporated townships, Henderson to the southeast, North Las Vegas, and the suburban valley from Summerlin to Enterprise.
Note: Clark County is one county, one school district and one metro, so the internal picture is simple. Nevada licenses behavior analysts through the Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board and has done so since 2009, which makes it one of the earliest licensing states in the country and one of the few with a board dedicated to the profession rather than a psychology or counseling board taking it on. Your BCBA is the qualifying credential and the state license is your practice authority. The wrinkle here is workforce rather than geography: the metro's economy runs on shifts, and a great many parents work nights and weekends, which affects when caregiver training can realistically happen and how in-home programming is scheduled.
The programs
Every one of the BCBA programs in Las Vegas and Nevada
2 programs
University of Nevada, Las Vegas — M.Ed. in Special Education, Applied Behavioral Analysis track
UNLV campus, Paradise, east of the Strip · Las Vegas, NV · On-campus; RTC bus routes serve the campus
- Tuition
- $383 per credit hour in-state, $805 per credit hour out-of-state
- Length
- 36 credits, 2 years
- Format
- On-campus with online options
- Accreditation
- BCBA Pathway 2 coursework; UNLV Department of Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education
- Part-time
- Built to accommodate practicing teachers and behavior technicians
- The only ABA program based in the Las Vegas metro
- At $383 per credit in-state it is among the cheapest public graduate rates in the western United States
- An M.Ed. in Special Education, so the degree reads as an education credential to Clark County School District
- Faculty include board certified behavior analysts at the doctoral level who also hold Nevada licensure
- The out-of-state rate of $805 is roughly double, so Nevada residency materially changes the cost
University of Nevada, Reno — M.S. in Behavior Analysis
Reno, about 450 miles north · Reno, NV · A relocation, not a commute
- Tuition
- $383 per credit hour in-state, $805 per credit hour out-of-state
- Length
- 36 credits, 2 years
- Format
- On-campus, research-intensive
- Accreditation
- ABAI-accredited at bachelor's, master's and doctoral level; UNR Department of Psychology
- Part-time
- A research-intensive full-time program; confirm any part-time route with the department
- Nevada's ABAI-accredited program, and one of very few institutions accredited at bachelor's, master's and doctoral level at once
- Research-intensive, which makes it the route if a doctorate is anywhere in your plans
- The same Nevada Board of Regents tuition as UNLV, so accreditation here costs no more per credit
- Reno also hosts the Nevada Center for Excellence in Disabilities, the state's federally designated UCEDD
- Four hundred and fifty miles from Las Vegas — include this only if you are willing to move
Cost of living
What it costs to live in Las Vegas while you study
Las Vegas costs almost exactly the national average overall — 0.2% above on the BEA index — while its housing runs 15.5% above. Nevada has no state income tax, which is worth real money on a professional salary and does not appear in the price index at all. The metro is compact by western standards: Clark County is one county and the developed valley is contained, so drive times between clients are shorter than in a sprawling multi-county metro.
Housing, 2024
115.5
15.5% above the national average
Everything, 2024
100.2
level with the national average
Metro median pay covers
$54,950
of national-average spending
Housing runs 15.5% above the national average, which is the single biggest reason the overall cost of living lands where it does.
Both figures are BEA Regional Price Parities for Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV, 2024, where the national average is 100. Housing is the services-housing component; the second figure is the whole basket.
Housing price level
15.5% above the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity for housing, 2024
All-items price level
0.2% above the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity, all items, 2024; effectively level
State income tax
None
Not captured by the price index, and worth real money on a professional salary
Transit
RTC bus and the Strip corridor services
Serves the resort corridor and main arterials; suburban caseloads need a car
Car
Required for fieldwork
Contained by western standards, but a valley-wide caseload still means driving
Tuition, UNLV M.Ed. (in-state)
$383 per credit hour
$805 per credit hour out-of-state; 36 credits
Clinical fieldwork
BCBA certification in Las Vegas: where Clark County students do supervised fieldwork
Fieldwork in Clark County is dominated by one school district and a set of private agencies funded through Nevada Medicaid and commercial insurance. The metro has no University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities — Nevada's is at UNR in Reno — and no freestanding children's hospital of the scale found in comparable metros, so the research-affiliated and hospital tiers are thinner here than the school and agency ones.
Clark County School District
CCSD is one of the largest school districts in the United States and covers the entire metropolitan area, which makes it both the dominant school-based placement route and the dominant school employer.
UNLV programs and clinics
UNLV is the metro's training institution and the hub of its behavior-analytic faculty network, which matters for supervision access.
Private ABA agencies across the valley
Providers funded through Nevada Medicaid and commercial insurance run in-home and center-based services across Clark County. With one district and one university, agencies carry more of the local caseload than in most metros.
Touro University Nevada, Henderson
Touro University Nevada in Henderson runs health sciences programs and clinics that intersect with developmental and behavioral services in the southeast of the valley.
Shift-economy scheduling
A metro where a large share of parents work nights and weekends changes when caregiver training can happen. Agencies that schedule around shift work are a practical advantage for families and a real operational difference for clinicians.
Hiring market
Major ABA employers across the Las Vegas metro
The Las Vegas employer market is unusually concentrated at the top and unusually dispersed below it. Clark County School District is a single employer covering 2.4 million people; beneath it sits a broad private agency layer and comparatively little in between. There is no large freestanding children's hospital and no local UCEDD, so the career ladder runs through district roles and agency clinical direction rather than hospital or academic tracks.
Clark County School District
Public school district
One of the largest districts in the United States, covering the entire metro, and the single biggest employer of school-based behavior support staff in Nevada.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Public university
The metro's training institution, with doctoral-level board certified behavior analysts on faculty and the local hub for supervision and professional networks.
Touro University Nevada
Health sciences university
A Henderson-based health sciences institution whose clinical programs intersect with developmental and behavioral services in the southeast valley.
Nevada Medicaid and commercial ABA providers
Private agencies
The bulk of the metro's behavior-analytic employment, funded through Nevada Medicaid and commercial plans, delivering in-home and center-based services across the valley.
Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board
State licensing board
Not an employer, but the body whose 2009 establishment and ongoing rulemaking define who may practice in the state.
Metro pay
BCBA salary in the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas metro
Metro median
$55,060
National median
$59,350
10th percentile
$43,740
90th percentile
$93,790
BLS metro median, May 2025
$55,060
$4,290 below the national median
Cost of living, 2024
100.2
level with the national average
Worth nationally
$54,950
the same pay in national-average dollars
Prices in the metro sit level with the national average, so $55,060 buys about what it would anywhere else.
BLS does not publish a separate occupation for behavior analysts. This is the May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018 (Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors), the category BCBAs are counted in, which also contains counseling roles that typically pay less. Read it as a floor for the metro, not as BCBA pay. Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV. Cost of living is the BEA Regional Price Parity for the metro, all items, 2024, where the national average is 100. It is the most recent year BEA publishes, so it sits one year behind the wage figure. Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities.
The published figure for this metro is $55,060, the BLS OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, across the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas metro. That is $4,290 below the national median of $59,350 for the same code. BLS publishes no separate occupation for behavior analysts, and SOC 21-1018 also contains counseling roles requiring neither a master's nor board certification, so read $55,060 as a floor rather than as BCBA pay.
The distribution is more encouraging than the median. The 10th percentile is $43,740 — a relatively high floor, eleventh of the fifty metros here — and the 90th is $93,790. A high floor with a below-average median suggests a market where entry-level pay is protected and mid-career progression is slow, which is consistent with a metro where one very large public employer sets much of the reference.
On cost, prices run 0.2% above the national average, so $55,060 is worth about $54,950 nationally — essentially unchanged. Housing runs 15.5% above national. One factor the price index does not capture: Nevada levies no state income tax, which on a professional salary is worth a meaningful amount relative to a state that does. For national context see our BCBA salary guide.
Other cities
Other cities in Nevada
Las Vegas is currently the only Nevada metro with its own guide. The state guide carries every program in Nevada plus the licensure picture.
Nearby metros
If you are flexible on metro
Las Vegas sits between the Southern California markets and the Mountain West, and both directions offer more programs than Nevada does. Phoenix and Salt Lake City are the practical comparisons.
ABA Programs in Phoenix
Five hours southeast, paying a $66,020 median against a similar cost of living, in a state that licenses through its psychology board.
ABA Programs in Salt Lake City
The Mountain West alternative, with a $112,810 top decile and a state license through Utah DOPL.
ABA Programs in Nevada
The full state picture: UNLV and UNR, the 2009 license, and the Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
01How many ABA programs are in Las Vegas?+
02Do I need a license to practice ABA in Las Vegas?+
03How much do BCBAs make in Las Vegas?+
04What does one district covering the whole metro mean for a BCBA?+
05Where do Las Vegas ABA students do supervised fieldwork?+
06Is Las Vegas a good place to start a BCBA career?+
Sources
- UNLV, M.Ed. in Special Education, Applied Behavioral Analysis track
- University of Nevada, Reno, M.S. in Behavior Analysis
- Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board
- BACB, U.S. Licensure of Behavior Analysts by State
- BLS OEWS May 2025, Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas MSA (SOC 21-1018)
- Clark County School District
- ABAI Accredited Programs Directory