Overall
96.3
Below avg
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
Cost-of-living indicators for Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 96.3
- Overall RPP
- #143
- of 387 metros
- 104.6
- Rents RPP
- $104K
- $100K national buys
Nashville ranks #143 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has held steady since 2008.
- stable since 2008
- similar cost to Kankakee
The verdict
Nashville costs less than 37% of U.S. metros, an overall index of 96.3, 3.7% below the national average, with services the biggest swing at 72.0.
- bottom 63%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 96.2
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 72.0
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $103,801 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $96,338.
Nashville vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
96 Top 37% higher than 63% 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
Nashville cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
104.6 RPP
- Services
Services
72 RPP
- Overall
Overall
96.3 RPP
- Goods
Goods
96.2 RPP
What this shows Nashville's strongest departure is services at 72.0; rents follows at 104.6. Labor-priced local activity, rather than housing alone, is the first budget line to investigate.
Goods vs. housing, where Nashville's cost comes from
Metros near Nashville's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Nashville (Nashville, this metro): goods RPP 96.2, rents RPP 104.6
- Kankakee: goods RPP 93.6, rents RPP 92.9
- Wilmington: goods RPP 96.6, rents RPP 93.2
- Missoula: goods RPP 96, rents RPP 94.9
- Winchester: goods RPP 96.7, rents RPP 90
- Cheyenne: goods RPP 95.4, rents RPP 89.8
- Asheville: goods RPP 96.6, rents RPP 93.4
Price Index Summary
Goods
96.2
Below avg
Services
72.0
Cheap
Rents
104.6
Above avg
Service-cost relief profile
How Nashville's cost structure works
Services provide the strongest cost offset in Nashville: their index is 72.0, farther below the national baseline than rents or tradable goods. The overall RPP of 96.3 therefore has a different source than a place with cheaper housing instead.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Coeur d'Alene, ID, Boise City, ID, Santa Fe, NM. They resemble Nashville 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, Nashville's overall index has stayed within 0.6 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.
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$96,338
in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$48,169
$75,000 nationally
$72,254
$125,000 nationally
$120,422
$150,000 nationally
$144,507
$200,000 nationally
$192,676
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
F
21/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability F
21st 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.
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Nashville's overall RPP fell -0.7 points, from 97.0 in 2023 to 96.3 in 2024. The largest category movement was services, changing from 76.6 to 72.0. 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 0.6 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2018, when the index dropped 4.5 points from the year before, a bigger swing than the full 2008-2024 change.
Nashville overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.7 |
| 2009 | 95.2 |
| 2010 | 96.7 |
| 2011 | 97.0 |
| 2012 | 97.4 |
| 2013 | 97.6 |
| 2014 | 97.3 |
| 2015 | 97.3 |
| 2016 | 99.3 |
| 2017 | 98.5 |
| 2018 | 94.0 |
| 2019 | 95.8 |
| 2020 | 95.9 |
| 2021 | 95.2 |
| 2022 | 96.5 |
| 2023 | 97.0 |
| 2024 | 96.3 |
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Nashville'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.
Coeur d'Alene, ID
Goods 96.2 · Services 70.8 · Rents 105.6 Boise City, ID
Goods 96.2 · Services 70.7 · Rents 105.6 Santa Fe, NM
Goods 96.1 · Services 76.7 · Rents 108.0 Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT
Goods 96.4 · Services 78.6 · Rents 104.1 Great Falls, MT
Goods 96.0 · Services 73.0 · Rents 97.1 St. George, UT
Goods 96.4 · Services 77.7 · Rents 98.1
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN's index of 96.3.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
TN-relative analysis
Rent prices is Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN's strongest outlier among TN metros
Among the 10 TN metros PlainCost tracks with reported rent prices data, Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN ranks #1 - the 90th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#1 of 10
30th percentile in TN
Services prices
#8 of 10
20th percentile in TN
Rent prices
#1 of 10
90th 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN: 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 (96.3 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (104.6 here).
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Rents 104.5 Portland-South Portland, ME Rents 105.2 Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT Rents 104.1 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Rents 103.9 Burlington-South Burlington, VT Rents 103.8 Lexington Park, MD Rents 103.8 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Rents 105.5 Boise City, ID Rents 105.6
Other TN Metros
Knoxville, TN 92.6 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 92.2 Chattanooga, TN-GA 91.5 Clarksville, TN-KY 90.9 Cleveland, TN 88.1 Johnson City, TN 87.9
View all TN metros → Cheapest in TN → Most expensive in TN →
Compare to Other Metros
Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
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Take this cost snapshot with you
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What this means for Nashville
How to read Nashville'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 $103,801 in Nashville. Salary calculator
- Start with services: it indexes at 72.0, 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 Nashville 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN?
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 96.3, meaning it is 3.7% less expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 96.2, services at 72.0, and rents at 104.6. It ranks #143 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $96,338 in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN. Conversely, $100K earned in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN has the purchasing power of $103,801 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN?
Rents in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN are indexed at 104.6, which is 4.6% above the national average. This is close to the U.S. average.
Is Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN's overall cost index changed by +0.6 points (from 95.7 to 96.3). The cost of living has remained relatively stable.
What costs the most in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN?
The priciest category in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN is rents at 104.6, 4.6% above the national average. The most affordable category is services at 72.0, 28.0% below average.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Kankakee, Wilmington, Missoula. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN's 96.3.
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.