What salary do you need to live in Nashville, TN?

The cost side of living in Nashville

Median gross rent, meaning contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities, runs $1,374, $1,489 and $1,780 a month for one, two and three bedrooms across Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN. The largest of those is 30% more than the smallest.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $409,600. With median household income at $85,447, a typical home costs 4.8× a typical income, close to the middle of the range across US metros.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 96.3, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 3.7% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $103,801 would at average US prices.

Nashville: the pre-tax income for each grade

For two bedrooms, $200,000 is where Nashville turns Comfortable. Below that, $99,000 marks the start of Okay and $50,000 the start of Tight; under $50,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 9% of gross pay.

Royal, the top band, starts at $554,000. At that income rent is 3% of pay and the median home 0.7× income.

How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Nashville

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Tight, with scores from 34 to 38.

In Nashville the table's top salary of $150,000 stops at Okay (57) for two bedrooms; Comfortable starts higher, at $200,000.

Where Nashville falls nationally

Ranked against all 387 metros, Nashville sits 143rd on overall price level and 72nd on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 70th.

Its nearest neighbors on the rent list are Ithaca, NY ($1,493) and Fairbanks-College, AK ($1,483).

Nashville next to Tennessee and similar metros

Statewide, Tennessee's median two-bedroom rent is $1,143 and its median home value $286,700. Nashville's rent is +30% against that, and its home value +43%; the price parity is 96.3 versus 91.9 for the state.

Scored the same way, the statewide figures turn Comfortable at $132,000, so Nashville needs $68,000 more than Tennessee overall.

The nearest matches in Tennessee, judged on rent and price parity together, are Knoxville, TN, Memphis, TN-MS-AR, and Chattanooga, TN-GA.

Where the typical Nashville household lands

The median household in the metro earns $85,447 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 41, Tight. That falls $114,553 short of the $200,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. For Tennessee as a whole, the median household income of $69,595 scores 47 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.