City cost of living 2026

Cost of living in Nashville, TN

The Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area (2,151,715 people) ranks #94 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.

New York, NY: price level 112.6Los Angeles, CA: price level 113.6Chicago, IL: price level 103.6Dallas, TX: price level 103.1Houston, TX: price level 98.6Miami, FL: price level 114.2Washington, D.C.: price level 108.9Atlanta, GA: price level 100.1Philadelphia, PA: price level 102.6Phoenix, AZ: price level 103.3Boston, MA: price level 108.3Riverside, CA: price level 106.4San Francisco, CA: price level 115.6Detroit, MI: price level 100.3Seattle, WA: price level 111.1Minneapolis, MN: price level 104.8Tampa, FL: price level 100.9San Diego, CA: price level 111.9Denver, CO: price level 105.8Orlando, FL: price level 101.4Charlotte, NC: price level 97.3Baltimore, MD: price level 104.5St. Louis, MO: price level 95.1San Antonio, TX: price level 94.7Austin, TX: price level 98.1Portland, OR: price level 105.4Sacramento, CA: price level 106.7Pittsburgh, PA: price level 94.7Las Vegas, NV: price level 100.2Cincinnati, OH: price level 95.4Kansas City, MO: price level 92.5Columbus, OH: price level 95.5Indianapolis, IN: price level 95.7Cleveland, OH: price level 93.9Nashville, TN: price level 96.3San Jose, CA: price level 110.4Virginia Beach, VA: price level 97.9Jacksonville, FL: price level 99.5Providence, RI: price level 101.8Milwaukee, WI: price level 96.9Raleigh, NC: price level 98.2Oklahoma City, OK: price level 90.4Louisville, KY: price level 93.1Richmond, VA: price level 97.9Memphis, TN: price level 92.2Salt Lake City, UT: price level 100.9Birmingham, AL: price level 91.6Fresno, CA: price level 102.2Grand Rapids, MI: price level 95.5Hartford, CT: price level 102.7Buffalo, NY: price level 95.8Tucson, AZ: price level 96.9Tulsa, OK: price level 89.2Rochester, NY: price level 97.0Omaha, NE: price level 91.9Honolulu, HI: price level 111.0Greenville, SC: price level 93.3Bridgeport, CT: price level 106.9New Orleans, LA: price level 92.6Knoxville, TN: price level 92.6Sarasota, FL: price level 102.4Albuquerque, NM: price level 95.5Bakersfield, CA: price level 100.9McAllen, TX: price level 85.9Albany, NY: price level 99.6Allentown, PA: price level 100.0Baton Rouge, LA: price level 90.8Worcester, MA: price level 102.5El Paso, TX: price level 89.9Columbia, SC: price level 93.7Charleston, SC: price level 101.0Cape Coral, FL: price level 102.3Lakeland, FL: price level 97.1Boise, ID: price level 98.4Oxnard, CA: price level 110.5Dayton, OH: price level 92.7Stockton, CA: price level 105.1Greensboro, NC: price level 92.9Colorado Springs, CO: price level 100.7Little Rock, AR: price level 89.4Provo, UT: price level 98.2Des Moines, IA: price level 91.7Daytona Beach, FL: price level 99.4Poughkeepsie, NY: price level 109.4Madison, WI: price level 97.3Winston-Salem, NC: price level 92.0Akron, OH: price level 93.4Ogden, UT: price level 100.3Wichita, KS: price level 88.9Palm Bay, FL: price level 100.0Syracuse, NY: price level 95.7Augusta, GA: price level 91.9Durham, NC: price level 97.6Harrisburg, PA: price level 98.7Jackson, MS: price level 89.0Fayetteville, AR: price level 91.4Spokane, WA: price level 100.3Toledo, OH: price level 91.5Chattanooga, TN: price level 91.5New Haven, CT: price level 104.6Reno, NV: price level 101.0Portland, ME: price level 101.9Port St. Lucie, FL: price level 100.2Huntsville, AL: price level 93.1Pensacola, FL: price level 97.7Lexington, KY: price level 92.9Killeen, TX: price level 91.1Springfield, MO: price level 88.6Santa Rosa, CA: price level 107.8Wilmington, NC: price level 96.4Fort Wayne, IN: price level 92.6Vallejo, CA: price level 108.5Santa Barbara, CA: price level 108.8Salinas, CA: price level 109.0Savannah, GA: price level 95.2Manchester, NH: price level 105.7Ocala, FL: price level 95.2Asheville, NC: price level 96.5Naples, FL: price level 103.2Myrtle Beach, SC: price level 93.6Anchorage, AK: price level 105.4Spartanburg, SC: price level 91.1Fayetteville, NC: price level 92.0Trenton, NJ: price level 103.2Eugene, OR: price level 101.6Fort Collins, CO: price level 101.1Ann Arbor, MI: price level 100.9Greeley, CO: price level 100.2Gainesville, FL: price level 96.7Clarksville, TN: price level 90.9Boulder, CO: price level 105.2Columbus, GA: price level 89.3Crestview, FL: price level 97.0Sioux Falls, SD: price level 90.6Olympia, WA: price level 103.7Norwich, CT: price level 100.4Bremerton, WA: price level 105.6Fargo, ND: price level 90.9Bend, OR: price level 103.6Daphne, AL: price level 94.7Prescott, AZ: price level 98.3Hilton Head Island, SC: price level 98.0Burlington, VT: price level 100.9Panama City, FL: price level 97.3Jacksonville, NC: price level 92.1Punta Gorda, FL: price level 100.5Billings, MT: price level 93.5The Villages, FL: price level 85.4Cheyenne, WY: price level 96.5

Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.

Price level of the 149 metros we cover
See all 149 cities

Price level, from cheaper to pricier.

Salary to match $75k
$71,800
vs. an average-priced, no-income-tax area
Median rent
$1,627
per month · need $65,080 income
Median home
$449,300
need about $114,620 to buy

Compare Nashville with your city

See what you'd need to earn in Nashville to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Los Angeles, CA, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), at about its median household income. Pick your own city and salary.

Equal salary in Nashville: $71,600

Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities

To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $71,600 in Nashville, TN to match $95,000 in Los Angeles, CA ($23,400 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.

Single filer, W-2 salary. Tennessee has no state income tax on wages; California does; neither city levies a resident income tax.

Take-home in Los Angeles
$69,838
26.5% total tax
Take-home in Nashville
$75,663
20.4% total tax
Prices in Nashville
-15.2%
vs Los Angeles (BEA 2024)
Renting: change after selected costs
+$11,879
per year, after taxes, rent and power; excludes food, transport, healthcare, child care and moving costs

See the full Los Angeles to Nashville report

What things cost in Nashville

Price level by category (U.S. = 100)
Below the U.S. average Above the U.S. average
Overall96.3
Housing104.6
Goods96.2
Utilities72.0
Other services95.1

The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.

Taxes in Nashville

On a $90,000 salary (about the area's median household income), a single filer keeps $72,145 after 2026 federal tax ($10,970), Social Security and Medicare ($6,885). Tennessee has no state income tax on wages.

Housing

MeasureNashville area
Median rent$1,627/mo
Median home value$449,300
Median property tax$2,140/yr
Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down)$2,674
Median household income$88,800

Climate and jobs in Nashville

In the Nashville area the average January low is 30°F and the average July high 91°F, and the area has about 54 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 3.0% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $50,390 a year, 1% below the U.S. median.

Climate in the Nashville area: NOAA 1991–2020 normals
Climate1991–2020 average
January low30°F
July high91°F
Days 90°F or hotter54 a year
Precipitation51 in a year
Snowfall4.7 in a year
Jobs and pay in the Nashville area compared with the U.S. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Jobs and payMetro areaU.S.
Unemployment rate, 2025 average3.0%4.3%
Median wage, all jobs (May 2025)$50,390$50,980
Wage and salary jobs (May 2025)1.1 million155.5 million

Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Nashville International Airport station (USW00013897). 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 Nashville

A single retiree spends about $2,959 a month here if they own their home outright, or $4,124 renting, based on typical spending for households 65 and older (BLS 2024) adjusted for local prices. See where your budget goes furthest.

Where people move to and from Nashville

Leaving Nashville for… (households)
Clarksville2,369
Atlanta833
Knoxville741
Chattanooga692
Memphis688
Dallas642
New York627
Chicago619
Moving to Nashville from… (households)
Los Angeles1,730
Clarksville1,715
Chicago1,248
Memphis1,171
Atlanta939
New York906
Miami847
Knoxville783

IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.

Natural hazard risk

FEMA rates the Nashville area among the highest for natural hazard risk (score 84.9 of 100), with expected losses of about $393 per resident per year. Disaster risk by county in Tennessee.

Highest relative risks (national percentile)
Higher risk than most U.S. counties
Earthquake92
Tornado91
Cold wave88
Strong wind87
Riverine flooding86

The vertical line marks the middle of U.S. counties (50).

Frequently asked questions

What salary do you need to live in Nashville?

To match the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax, you need about $71,800 in Nashville. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $65,080, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $114,620.

Is Nashville expensive?

The Nashville metro area's price level is 96.3 (U.S. = 100), #94 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing price index is 104.6, 5% above the U.S. average.

Are people moving to Nashville?

Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Nashville had a net gain of about 6,205 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).

What is the weather like in Nashville?

In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Nashville area (Nashville International Airport weather station), the average January low is 30°F and the average July high 91°F. The area has about 54 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 51 inches of precipitation a year and about 4.7 inches of snow.

What are jobs and pay like in Nashville?

The Nashville metro area's unemployment rate averaged 3.0% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $50,390 a year in May 2025, 1% below the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What natural disasters affect Nashville?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the area among the highest overall (score 84.9). The highest relative risks are earthquake, tornado, cold wave.

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