Cost of living in Knoxville, TN
The Knoxville, TN metro area (957,376 people) ranks #120 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
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Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare Knoxville with your city
See what you'd need to earn in Knoxville to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Nashville, TN, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in Knoxville: $86,100
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $86,100 in Knoxville, TN to match $90,000 in Nashville, TN ($3,900 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Both are in Tennessee, which has no state income tax on wages; neither city levies a resident income tax.
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use Tennessee, its principal state. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
What things cost in Knoxville
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in Knoxville
In this fixed example, one single filer earning a $75,000 W-2 salary keeps $61,593 after 2026 federal tax ($7,670), Social Security and Medicare ($5,738). Tennessee has no state income tax on wages. The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Housing
| Measure | Knoxville area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,219/mo |
| Median home value | $351,400 |
| Median property tax | $1,300/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $2,141 |
| Median household income | $74,184 |
Climate and jobs in Knoxville
In the Knoxville area the average January low is 30°F and the average July high 88°F, and the area has about 37 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 3.2% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $47,080 a year, 8% below the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 30°F |
| July high | 88°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 37 a year |
| Precipitation | 52 in a year |
| Snowfall | 4.6 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 3.2% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $47,080 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 424,600 | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport station (USW00013891). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in Knoxville
Our modeled retiree budget is about $2,872 a month here with a home owned outright, or $3,492 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in Knoxville. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from Knoxville
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the Knoxville area is 78.2 of 100 (high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $301 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Tennessee.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in Knoxville?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $68,500 in Knoxville matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Tennessee state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $48,760, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $91,757.
Is Knoxville expensive?
The Knoxville metro area's price level is 92.6 (U.S. = 100), #120 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 82.8, 17% below the U.S. average.
Are people moving to Knoxville?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Knoxville had a net gain of about 1,559 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in Knoxville?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Knoxville area (Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport weather station), the average January low is 30°F and the average July high 88°F. The area has about 37 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 52 inches of precipitation a year and about 4.6 inches of snow.
What are jobs and pay like in Knoxville?
The Knoxville metro area's unemployment rate averaged 3.2% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $47,080 a year in May 2025, 8% below the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect Knoxville?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 78.2 out of 100 (high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are landslide, earthquake, lightning.
Cities with similar prices
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Moving from Tennessee
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing.