Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas probably has one of the lowest NPC unemployment rates among all RPGs, gaming scientist finds, but yeah, it still "sucks s***" to live there

Have you ever wondered what the unemployment rate in Fallout: New Vegas is? Me neither, but if YouTuber AnyAustin decides to make a video about a topic, you're damn right I'm going to be interested in it – even when he analyzes where GTA 5's powerlines go.

For this video, Austin just means the area of New Vegas, not the entire Mojave wasteland. New Vegas is the shining jewel of its titular game – a beacon to travelers and degenerates. It has four casinos, a hotel, and a warehouse inside the city walls, and all but one of the casinos employs human staff.

What Is Fallout: New Vegas’ Unemployment Rate? - YouTube

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Out on the streets there are dancers, a stand up comic, a snack vendor, and even a smuggler. Of the 117 NPCs that Austin believes to live in New Vegas, shockingly, all of them are employed, meaning the city has a 0% unemployment rate.

He also notes that Mr. House's robotic security force comprises around 25% of the local population (they aren't included in the employment statistics, because, well, they're robots). If you just look at humans, the extra tourists and NCR soldiers stationed there mean New Vegas is only made up of 45% permanent residents, about the same as the real-life Las Vegas.

And just like Las Vegas, Austin also looks at the suburbs, because the Strip itself doesn't tell the whole story. The town of Freeside boasts a 0% employment rate, with a total of 49 NPCs. 14 of them are members of the Kings gang, but even though it ain't honest, it's work.

Austin notes that in our own capitalist reality, a 0% unemployment rate is apparently bad, because it would lead to inflation and labor shortages. Sounds like a bad system if you ask me.

But, New Vegas isn't in America proper, it's in a video game, and Austin says even though everyone has a job, it still "sucks shit to live in New Vegas." Considering the various factions vying for control, the radiation, and the general degraded state of everything, I'd have to agree.

While you're here, check out our ranking of the best Fallout games. My favorite is Fallout 3 because of how lonely it feels.

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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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