Overall
90.9
Below avg
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Clarksville, TN-KY
Cost-of-living indicators for Clarksville, TN-KY, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 90.9
- Overall RPP
- #272
- of 387 metros
- 73.8
- Rents RPP
- $110K
- $100K national buys
Clarksville ranks #272 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has held steady since 2008.
- stable since 2008
- similar cost to Erie
The verdict
Clarksville costs less than 70% of U.S. metros, an overall index of 90.9, 9.1% below the national average, with services the biggest swing at 72.5.
- bottom 30%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 96.2
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 72.5
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $109,954 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $90,947.
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$90,947
in Clarksville, TN-KY purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$45,474
$75,000 nationally
$68,210
$125,000 nationally
$113,684
$150,000 nationally
$136,421
$200,000 nationally
$181,894
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
C
61/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability C
61st percentile
A weighted composite (60% purchasing power, 40% housing affordability) percentile-ranked against every other tracked metro; a missing input redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. Sources: Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (income) + BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (cost). Vintages differ by design; see methodology.
Service-cost relief profile
How Clarksville's cost structure works
Services provide the strongest cost offset in Clarksville: their index is 72.5, farther below the national baseline than rents or tradable goods. The overall RPP of 90.9 therefore has a different source than a place with cheaper housing instead.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Lewiston, ID-WA, Twin Falls, ID *, Oklahoma City, OK. They resemble Clarksville across goods, services, and rents together, so they are stronger structure peers than a place selected only because its overall RPP happens to be nearby.
Across 2008-2024, Clarksville's overall index has stayed within 0.4 points. This is a relative price-level history, not a prediction or a personal affordability recommendation; pair it with current local wages and housing options before making a decision.
Clarksville vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
91 Bottom 30% higher than 30% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
Clarksville cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
73.8 RPP
- Services
Services
72.5 RPP
- Overall
Overall
90.9 RPP
- Goods
Goods
96.2 RPP
What this shows Clarksville's strongest departure is services at 72.5; rents follows at 73.8. Labor-priced local activity, rather than housing alone, is the first budget line to investigate.
Goods vs. housing, where Clarksville's cost comes from
Metros near Clarksville's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Clarksville (Clarksville, this metro): goods RPP 96.2, rents RPP 73.8
- Erie: goods RPP 100.7, rents RPP 56.8
- College Station: goods RPP 93.8, rents RPP 75.1
- Mankato: goods RPP 95.4, rents RPP 79.9
- Saginaw: goods RPP 93.7, rents RPP 63.6
- Fargo: goods RPP 95.7, rents RPP 81.1
- Bismarck: goods RPP 95.7, rents RPP 84
Price Index Summary
Goods
96.2
Below avg
Services
72.5
Cheap
Rents
73.8
Cheap
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Clarksville's overall RPP fell -0.7 points, from 91.7 in 2023 to 90.9 in 2024. The largest category movement was services, changing from 78.0 to 72.5. This is a relative change against the national benchmark, not a household's dollar bill.
RPP History (2008-2024)
The cost of living has remained relatively stable, changing by only 0.4 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2018, when the index dropped 3.5 points from the year before, a bigger swing than the full 2008-2024 change.
Clarksville overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.5 |
| 2009 | 90.0 |
| 2010 | 91.4 |
| 2011 | 93.8 |
| 2012 | 93.0 |
| 2013 | 92.8 |
| 2014 | 92.3 |
| 2015 | 92.5 |
| 2016 | 93.6 |
| 2017 | 92.1 |
| 2018 | 88.6 |
| 2019 | 89.5 |
| 2020 | 88.8 |
| 2021 | 90.4 |
| 2022 | 91.1 |
| 2023 | 91.7 |
| 2024 | 90.9 |
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Clarksville, TN-KY's index of 90.9.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
TN-relative analysis
Goods prices sits close to the middle of TN's metro distribution
Among the 10 TN metros PlainCost tracks with reported goods prices data, Clarksville, TN-KY ranks #1 - the 30th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Clarksville, TN-KY only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#1 of 10
30th percentile in TN
Services prices
#5 of 10
50th percentile in TN
Rent prices
#5 of 10
50th percentile in TN
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "more expensive is worse", see the national comparison above for direction context. This is a comparison within TN only, not a livability score.
Nationwide metros with similar overall cost or rent prices
Two BEA RPP-derived peer sets for Clarksville, TN-KY: nearest metros by overall regional price parity and by rents RPP. These are cross-state neighborhoods, not the in-state metro list below.
Similar overall RPP
Nearest metros by overall regional price parity (90.9 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (73.8 here).
Other TN Metros
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 96.3 Knoxville, TN 92.6 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 92.2 Chattanooga, TN-GA 91.5 Cleveland, TN 88.1 Johnson City, TN 87.9
View all TN metros → Cheapest in TN → Most expensive in TN →
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Clarksville's combined goods, services, and rents profile. They may not have the same overall RPP, but their price pressures are shaped in a similar way.
Lewiston, ID-WA
Goods 96.2 · Services 72.6 · Rents 71.9 Twin Falls, ID *
Goods 96.2 · Services 70.0 · Rents 73.8 Oklahoma City, OK
Goods 93.8 · Services 74.1 · Rents 73.9 Baton Rouge, LA
Goods 93.7 · Services 71.2 · Rents 74.2 Chattanooga, TN-GA
Goods 96.0 · Services 74.2 · Rents 76.5 Billings, MT
Goods 96.0 · Services 72.4 · Rents 77.4
Compare to Other Metros
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Download the data card or share this exact metro record. The card uses the same BEA-derived values shown above.
Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
What this means for Clarksville
How to read Clarksville's cost of living before a move, a job offer, or a budget.
- Budget to local prices, not headline pay, a $100K national salary spends like about $109,954 in Clarksville. Salary calculator
- Start with services: it indexes at 72.5, the largest departure from the national benchmark in this metro's BEA cost mix. Compare it with the other components before treating the overall RPP as a complete household budget.
- Compare Clarksville head-to-head against a specific destination before you decide. Compare metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level benchmark for the data year shown, not a live market quote. Pair it with current local wages and housing costs before deciding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Clarksville, TN-KY?
Clarksville, TN-KY has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 90.9, meaning it is 9.1% less expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 96.2, services at 72.5, and rents at 73.8. It ranks #272 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Clarksville, TN-KY to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $90,947 in Clarksville, TN-KY. Conversely, $100K earned in Clarksville, TN-KY has the purchasing power of $109,954 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Clarksville, TN-KY?
Rents in Clarksville, TN-KY are indexed at 73.8, which is 26.2% below the national average. This makes the area relatively affordable for renters.
Is Clarksville, TN-KY getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Clarksville, TN-KY's overall cost index changed by +0.4 points (from 90.5 to 90.9). The cost of living has remained relatively stable.
What costs the most in Clarksville, TN-KY?
The priciest category in Clarksville, TN-KY is goods at 96.2, 3.8% below the national average, still the highest of the three categories. The most affordable category is services at 72.5, 27.5% below average.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Clarksville, TN-KY?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Erie, College Station-Bryan, Mankato. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Clarksville, TN-KY's 90.9.
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.