Overall
- Knoxville
- 92.6
Diff -20.0 RPP
New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Knoxville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Knoxville is 17.8% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City.
17.8% less expensive
Knoxville, TN is 17.8% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.6 vs 112.6). A $100,000 salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City buys about the same as $82,238 in Knoxville; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 112.6 (New York-Newark-Jersey City) vs 92.6 (Knoxville)
- $100k in New York-Newark-Jersey City ≈ $82,238 purchasing power in Knoxville
- Rents drives the gap (-65.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:TN 112.6→92.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE NY × TN
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City would need to be in Knoxville for the same purchasing power:
| In New York-Newark-Jersey City | In Knoxville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $41,119 | $-8,881 |
| $75,000 | $61,678 | $-13,322 |
| $100,000 | $82,238 | $-17,762 |
| $150,000 | $123,356 | $-26,644 |
$ in New York-Newark-Jersey City = in Knoxville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (112.6 → 92.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ and Knoxville, TN sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 20.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: New York-Newark-Jersey City is above 100 while Knoxville is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Knoxville 65.8 points lower than New York-Newark-Jersey City. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 New York-Newark-Jersey City corresponds to $82,238 in Knoxville.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Knoxville
- 96.2
Diff -14.0 RPP
Services
- Knoxville
- 71.9
Diff -55.1 RPP
Rents
- Knoxville
- 82.8
Diff -65.8 RPP
| Category | New York-Newark-Jersey City | Knoxville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 112.6 | 92.6 | -20.0 |
| Goods | 110.3 | 96.2 | -14.0 |
| Services | 127.0 | 71.9 | -55.1 |
| Rents | 148.6 | 82.8 | -65.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
New York-Newark-Jersey City 112.6
Knoxville 92.6
Goods
New York-Newark-Jersey City 110.3
Knoxville 96.2
Services
New York-Newark-Jersey City 127.0
Knoxville 71.9
Rents
New York-Newark-Jersey City 148.6
Knoxville 82.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
New York-Newark-Jersey City
112.6
Cost Index
Knoxville
92.6
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Knoxville more expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City?
Knoxville is 17.8% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City. The overall cost index is 92.6 vs 112.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Knoxville equals $100K in New York-Newark-Jersey City?
A $100,000 salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City has the same purchasing power as $82,238 in Knoxville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between New York-Newark-Jersey City and Knoxville?
Rents in New York-Newark-Jersey City are indexed at 148.6 while Knoxville is at 82.8 (national average = 100). New York-Newark-Jersey City 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.