Cost of living in Tennessee by metro: homes, taxes and monthly costs

Cost of living in Tennessee at a glance

Cost of living in Tennessee is set by the county you pick

Set your monthly budget, then pick the county it buys. Around $2,200 to $2,600 a month with tax gets you the typical home in Columbia, Knoxville or Murfreesboro, and Nashville sits at the top of that band. In Williamson County, the Williamson side of Spring Hill is the way in at about $3,091 a month; Franklin's typical home outside the Franklin Special School District (FSSD) runs about $5,357. Memphis is the cheapest by far, but its tax rate is the highest on the list, so the low price doesn't carry through to the tax bill.

The table shows Zillow's typical home value, the estimated property tax on it and the monthly cost with 20% down at Freddie Mac's 7.4% average (week of October 15, 2026), before insurance.

Estimates outside Williamson County use the Tennessee Comptroller's 2025 rates and each county's appraisal ratio; real bills use the assessor's appraisal of the home.

Cost of living in Tennessee's metros

Memphis cost of living

Memphis has the cheapest typical home in our data at $151,794, but Shelby County and the city levied a combined $5.2708 per $100 of assessed value in 2025, the highest effective rate we track. The roughly $2,000 tax bill on a typical Memphis home matches the bill on a $369,414 Columbia home. Values fell 2.77% in a year.

Chattanooga cost of living

At $314,999, Chattanooga is the second-cheapest metro, and it carries the second-highest effective tax, about 0.86% of value. Hamilton County isn't on the Comptroller's 2026 tax freeze list, though the city of Chattanooga is, so a freeze there covers only the city's share.

Knoxville cost of living

Knoxville's typical home is $368,965 and has more than doubled in ten years (+124.9%). Its effective tax is about 0.67% of value on 2025 rates, with the city's share larger than Knox County's.

Nashville cost of living

Nashville's typical value is $425,889, down 2.53% in a year, with an effective tax of about 0.70%. Davidson County's sales tax is 9.75%, and its grocery rate drops to 5.75% on November 1, 2026. Our guide to moving to Nashville compares the city with its suburbs.

Williamson County cost of living

Williamson County's typical home is $916,175, up 2.86% in a year and at a record. Its towns sit at the low end of the effective tax rates on our list, from 0.35% of value in Thompson's Station to 0.56% in Franklin inside the FSSD, but the house costs more than twice as much as Nashville's. Renting is the cheaper way in: Zillow's typical Franklin rent was $2,038 a month in September 2026. The full monthly budget is on our Franklin cost of living page.

Rutherford and Maury County cost of living

South and southeast of Nashville, Murfreesboro ($424,348) and Columbia ($369,414) cost about the same as Nashville or less. Both counties' 2025 appraisal ratios sit under 1.0, so assessments trail market prices and bills may rise at the next reappraisal; Maury County reappraised in 2026.

Tennessee taxes in the cost of living

Tennessee income tax: none on wages

Tennessee doesn't tax wages, and the Hall tax on interest and dividends ended for tax years starting in 2021. There's no inheritance tax for deaths after 2015. That's the same in every county, so it doesn't change which metro is cheapest. Details are in our Tennessee income tax guide.

Tennessee sales tax by county

The state rate is 7% and counties add a local rate up to 2.75%. Davidson and Williamson both charge the full 2.75%, for 9.75%. On $20,000 a year of taxable purchases, that's $1,950 in sales tax.

Tennessee grocery tax

Food carries a reduced 4% state rate plus the local rate: 6.75% in Williamson County, and 5.75% in Davidson County from November 1, 2026. On $10,000 a year of groceries, the difference between the two counties is $100.

Sales tax on a car in Tennessee

Big single items are taxed less than the 9.75% headline. Local tax applies only to the first $1,600 of one item, and a 2.75% state single-article tax applies to the part between $1,600 and $3,200, so a $40,000 car pays about $2,888, or 7.2%. The Tennessee sales tax guide shows more examples.

Car registration cost in Williamson County

A new-resident registration in Williamson County is $68.75 in 2026 and a renewal is $54.75, both including the $25.75 wheel tax. Electric vehicles pay $200 extra at renewal and hybrids $100. There's no emissions test.

Property tax: the cost of living line that varies most in Tennessee

Every Tennessee county assesses homes at 25% of appraised value. In Williamson County, bills go out in October and are due by February 28. Across the state, the combined rate per $100 runs from $1.30 in unincorporated Williamson County (2026) to $5.2708 in Memphis (2025). As a share of value, that's about 0.33% against about 1.32%.

Cheapest Tennessee homes, highest property tax rates

The places with the lowest home values levy the highest rates per $100, so the bill doesn't fall as fast as the price. A $151,794 Memphis home and a $369,414 Columbia home both pay about $2,000. A $728,431 Thompson's Station home pays about $2,555 at the lowest 2026 rate of any Williamson County town.

Tennessee property tax relief and the freeze

Tennessee has no general homestead exemption. Owners 65 and older with 2025 household income up to $38,470 can claim state Tax Relief on up to $33,600 of value, and counties such as Williamson ($69,150 income limit) and Davidson ($63,470) run tax freezes. The Tennessee tax freeze comparison by town lists every limit.

Cost of living in Nashville suburbs: Wilson, Sumner and Rutherford counties

Five commuter towns east, north and southeast of Nashville have typical homes from $400,537 to $556,817. Their estimated tax bills look low, but in two of the three counties that's partly because assessments trail market prices.

Wilson County cost of living: Mount Juliet and Lebanon

Wilson County's appraisal ratio of 0.6854 means homes are assessed at about two-thirds of market value until the next reappraisal. Mount Juliet's estimated bill of about $2,098 on a $556,817 home is the lowest of these five relative to price, and Wilson's ratio gives it room to rise.

Sumner County cost of living: Hendersonville and Gallatin

Sumner County's ratio is 1.0, so its estimates are already close to what a buyer would pay. Hendersonville's typical home, $515,384, costs about $2,589 a year in tax; Gallatin's, $436,321, about $2,128.

The Nashville suburbs ranking scores these towns against the Williamson County ones on price, tax, distance and value change.

Pros and cons of the cost of living in Tennessee

The pros: no tax on wages, interest or dividends; a statewide typical home value of $330,844; and in Williamson County, some of the lowest effective property tax rates in the state, about 0.39% of value in Franklin outside the Franklin Special School District (FSSD).

The cons: a 9.75% sales tax in both Davidson and Williamson counties, a tax on groceries, no general homestead exemption, and wide gaps in property tax between towns that sit only a few miles apart. In Franklin, the FSSD line alone moves the tax on a typical home by about $1,546 a year.

Cost of living in Tennessee vs California

The Bureau of Economic Analysis put California's 2024 price level at 110.7 against a national 100, and its housing rents at 154.3. California's income tax also reaches 12.3%. Our California to Tennessee guide walks through what changes.

How to budget the cost of living in Tennessee before you move

1. Pick two or three counties, then find the town's typical home value and its combined property tax rate.
2. Work out the monthly payment with tax; the table above shows the method at 20% down and 7.4%.
3. Add sales tax on your expected spending at 9.75% (or your county's rate) and groceries at the reduced food rate.
4. Add car registration and wheel tax for each vehicle, and an insurance quote for the home.
5. Check whether you'd qualify for relief or a freeze, now or later.

Example: a year of taxes in Nashville vs Franklin

One household, buying each place's typical home, with $20,000 of taxable purchases and $10,000 of groceries a year:

The house in Franklin costs more than twice as much, but the yearly tax bill is only about $679 higher. The price of the home decides the cost of living far more than the taxes do.

If Franklin is on the list, the Williamson County property tax calculator gives the 2026 bill for any price and district, and the moving to Tennessee checklist covers the first 90 days. If a city in another state is still on your list, the Nashville vs Charlotte cost breakdown and the Nashville vs Austin property tax comparison set Tennessee against North Carolina and Texas. Confirm tax questions about your own income with a Tennessee CPA.