Overall
- Clarksville
- 90.9
- Chattanooga
- 91.5
Diff +0.5 RPP
Clarksville vs Chattanooga
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chattanooga is 0.6% more expensive than Clarksville.
0.6% more expensive
Chattanooga, TN-GA is 0.6% more expensive than Clarksville, TN-KY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.5 vs 90.9). A $100,000 salary in Clarksville buys about the same as $100,568 in Chattanooga; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 90.9 (Clarksville) vs 91.5 (Chattanooga)
- $100k in Clarksville ≈ $100,568 purchasing power in Chattanooga
- Rents drives the gap (+2.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TN:TN 90.9→91.5
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · TN
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Clarksville
90.9
Cost Index
Chattanooga
91.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Clarksville, TN-KY and Chattanooga, TN-GA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Chattanooga is 2.7 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Clarksville corresponds to $100,568 in Chattanooga.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Clarksville
- 96.2
- Chattanooga
- 96.0
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
- Clarksville
- 72.5
- Chattanooga
- 74.2
Diff +1.7 RPP
Rents
- Clarksville
- 73.8
- Chattanooga
- 76.5
Diff +2.7 RPP
| Category | Clarksville | Chattanooga | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.9 | 91.5 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.0 | -0.3 |
| Services | 72.5 | 74.2 | +1.7 |
| Rents | 73.8 | 76.5 | +2.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Clarksville 90.9
Chattanooga 91.5
Goods
Clarksville 96.2
Chattanooga 96.0
Services
Clarksville 72.5
Chattanooga 74.2
Rents
Clarksville 73.8
Chattanooga 76.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Clarksville and Chattanooga share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.7 to 0.5 RPP points. Chattanooga remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 3.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.0 to 2.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Clarksville RPP | Chattanooga RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.5 | 92.2 | 1.7 points Chattanooga higher |
| 2012 | 93.0 | 94.4 | 1.4 points Chattanooga higher |
| 2016 | 93.6 | 93.8 | 0.2 points Chattanooga higher |
| 2020 | 88.8 | 90.1 | 1.3 points Chattanooga higher |
| 2024 | 90.9 | 91.5 | 0.5 points Chattanooga higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Clarksville would need to be in Chattanooga for the same purchasing power:
| In Clarksville | In Chattanooga | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,284 | +$284 |
| $75,000 | $75,426 | +$426 |
| $100,000 | $100,568 | +$568 |
| $150,000 | $150,853 | +$853 |
$ in Clarksville = in Chattanooga
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.9 → 91.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chattanooga more expensive than Clarksville?
Chattanooga is 0.6% more expensive than Clarksville. The overall cost index is 91.5 vs 90.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chattanooga equals $100K in Clarksville?
A $100,000 salary in Clarksville has the same purchasing power as $100,568 in Chattanooga. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Clarksville and Chattanooga?
Rents in Clarksville are indexed at 73.8 while Chattanooga is at 76.5 (national average = 100). Chattanooga has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.