Route comparison
Nashville, TN vs Knoxville, TN: Cost of Living
Compare Nashville, TN and Knoxville, TN using historical BEA 2024 price indexes and HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR benchmarks. Add your own salary, lease and moving quote to a budget summary.
Nashville, TN
TN
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 96.338
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 104.626
- 2024 goods RPP
- 96.247
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,798/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Knoxville, TN
TN
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 92.569
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 82.783
- 2024 goods RPP
- 96.247
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,475/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Historical RPP salary illustration
In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Knoxville, TN has a lower overall price level than Nashville, TN by about 3.9% (RPP 96.338 to 92.569).
$60,000 in Nashville, TN
-> $57,653
in Knoxville, TN
$100,000 in Nashville, TN
-> $96,088
in Knoxville, TN
$150,000 in Nashville, TN
-> $144,132
in Knoxville, TN
Salary illustrations use BEA 2024 overall Regional Price Parities (RPP) only, before tax and household-specific adjustments. Overall RPP already includes housing. HUD FY2027 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a separate historical gross-rent benchmark, not a current lease or median rent. Do not add rent to the RPP salary figure. Your lease and moving quote belong in a separate budget. Not financial advice.
Step 2: what will the move itself cost?
Put your actual lease, deposit, overlap rent and mover quote beside the historical salary illustration. Leave amounts you do not yet know blank.
Migration signal: Nashville, TN vs Knoxville, TN
IRS tax-return migration · 2022-2023Nashville, TN
- Net people
- +7,225
- Net rank
- #14 of 65
- Top origin share
- 7%
- Top destination share
- 13%
Largest source: Montgomery County, TN. Largest destination: Montgomery County, TN.
Knoxville, TN
- Net people
- +2,906
- Net rank
- #21 of 65
- Top origin share
- 10%
- Top destination share
- 12%
Largest source: Sevier County, TN. Largest destination: Sevier County, TN.
Rent delta: Knoxville, TN is $323/mo lower for HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR than Nashville, TN. Housing RPP moves from 104.626 to 82.783.
Migration figures are derived from IRS SOI county-to-county migration data for 2022-2023, mapped to metros via Census CBSA delineation. Small county-to-county flows are IRS-suppressed, so per-metro totals are lower bounds. Source: IRS SOI migration data.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Knoxville, TN cheaper or more expensive than Nashville, TN?
- In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Knoxville, TN (RPP 92.569) has an overall price level about 3.9% lower than Nashville, TN (RPP 96.338). This does not measure your current household costs.
- What salary do I need in Knoxville, TN if I earn $100,000 in Nashville, TN?
- The historical RPP illustration is approximately $96,088 in Knoxville, TN, using $100,000 x (92.569 / 96.338). It uses BEA 2024 overall price indexes before tax and household adjustments; HUD rent is not added to this figure.
- Which metro had stronger net migration, Nashville, TN or Knoxville, TN?
- For 2022-2023, Nashville, TN had a net gain of 7,225 people, while Knoxville, TN had a net gain of 2,906 people. IRS small-flow suppression means these are lower-bound research signals, not complete population-change totals.