Nashville’s cost of living sits roughly 3-7% above the national average in 2025, depending on which index you use. It is not cheap, but it is not a coastal city either. The accurate framing: Nashville is more expensive than most of the South and significantly cheaper than most major cities outside the South.
Housing
This is where Nashville’s costs deviate most from the national average. Median home sale price as of mid-2025: around $486,000, up roughly 6.8% year over year per Redfin. Housing costs overall run 8-19% above the national average depending on the data source.
Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is approximately $1,676-$1,779 per month citywide. Location within the city matters substantially:
- Downtown/Midtown: $2,200-2,300
- Wedgewood-Houston: $2,300+
- Hillsboro Village: $1,989
- East Nashville: varies widely by block, roughly $1,600-$2,000
- Donelson: $1,493
- Bellevue: $1,696
Two-bedroom apartments average around $2,100-2,400 in desirable urban neighborhoods.
Taxes: The Big Advantage
Tennessee has no state income tax. This is the single largest financial advantage Nashville has over comparably sized metros. A person earning $100,000 in Nashville keeps roughly $5,000-$8,000 more per year in take-home pay than the same person in Illinois, Colorado, or Georgia, just from the state income tax differential.
The tradeoff: Tennessee’s combined sales tax rate (state 7% + county 2.25% in Davidson County) hits 9.25%, which is among the highest combined rates in the country. You pay for government at the register rather than in April.
Property taxes are lower than national averages.
Monthly Budget Breakdown (Single Adult, 2025)
Based on MIT Living Wage Calculator data (February 2025) and multiple cost-of-living indices:
- Housing (rent + utilities): $1,858 average ($2,264 rent + $370 utilities across sources)
- Groceries: $312-$690 per month, depending heavily on household size and eating habits
- Transportation: $355 per month (9-10% below national average, because gas is cheaper and car insurance is lower than coastal rates)
- Healthcare: $137-$450 per month depending on coverage
- Goods and services: $1,030 per month
MIT’s February 2025 estimate: a single adult needs to earn approximately $25.52/hour ($53,090 annually) to cover basic living expenses in Nashville. Total monthly costs for a single adult: roughly $2,500-$4,800 depending on housing choice and lifestyle.
The Average Salary Context
The average salary in Nashville is approximately $62,000-$67,000 per year as of 2025, depending on the source. This is above the statewide average by roughly $15,000 and competes with national averages. At $67,000, a single adult has positive cash flow on basic expenses but limited discretionary savings at the upper end of housing.
How Nashville Compares
The numbers that matter for relocation decisions:
- Nashville is approximately 83% cheaper than San Francisco
- 70% cheaper than New York
- 39% cheaper than Washington D.C.
- 14% cheaper than Miami
- 9% cheaper than Chicago
- More expensive than Austin in some comparisons, cheaper in others (roughly equivalent in 2025)
- More expensive than Atlanta
For people moving from high-cost metros, Nashville represents a genuine quality-of-life upgrade on the dollar. For people already living in the Midwest or Southeast, the calculus is tighter.
What Gets Overlooked
Car ownership is not optional for most people in Nashville. Unlike New York, Chicago, or D.C. where a household can eliminate car costs entirely, Nashville requires a car. MIT’s transportation estimate of $10,900 annually for a single adult includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and car payments. This is money that simply does not exist as a line item in the budgets of transit-dependent city residents.
Childcare runs about 12% above the Tennessee average and 3% above the national average in Nashville specifically, around $1,500-2,000 per month for infant care in 2025.
The no-state-income-tax advantage is real, but renters carry it less efficiently than owners, because the property tax benefit flows to landlords rather than tenants.
Sources:
- Centex – Cost of Living in Nashville TN (October 2025 data): centex.com
- Apartments.com Cost of Living – Nashville TN (last updated June 2025): apartments.com
- Nashville SmLS – Cost of Living in Nashville (February 2025): nashvillesmls.com
- Redfin Nashville Market Data, 2025
- MIT Living Wage Calculator, February 2025: livingwage.mit.edu
- Salary.com Nashville Cost of Living 2026: salary.com