{"id":40858,"date":"2024-02-14T15:00:46","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T23:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=40858"},"modified":"2025-10-15T15:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:40:21","slug":"buyer-cost-of-living-in-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-cost-of-living-in-tennessee\/","title":{"rendered":"Cost of Living in Tennessee: A Guide for Homebuyers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re considering moving to Tennessee, you might be curious about the cost of living in the Volunteer State and how it compares to your current residence.<\/p>\n<p>This guide will cover the cost of living in Tennessee, from housing expenses to food and healthcare costs. We\u2019ll provide data from state cost of living index tools, how Tennessee ranks in the nation for livability, and some common reasons why people relocate to and from the state.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll also share a handy set of additional online resources to measure and compare the cost of living expenses in different Tennessee communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Yes, You Can Buy Before You Sell. Why Move Twice?<\/h3>\n                        <p>Through our Buy Before You Sell program, HomeLight can help you unlock a portion of your equity upfront to put toward your next home. You can then make a strong offer on your next home <strong>with no home sale contingency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/buy-before-you-sell\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Buy Before You Sell<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"What makes up the \u2018cost of living\u2019 in Tennessee?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>What makes up the \u2018cost of living\u2019 in Tennessee?<\/h2>\n<p>When you\u2019re planning to live in a new state, the cost of living there will be a combination of expenses required to maintain your desired lifestyle. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/topics\/768\/cost-of-living\/#topicOverview\">Statista<\/a>, a leading market data platform, defines \u201ccost of living\u201d as &#8220;the monetary cost of goods and services necessary to maintaining a certain standard of living.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This overall cost will vary significantly based on location, even within the state. But the core living expenses you\u2019ll pay for typically include the following categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Housing (rent\/mortgage)<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Energy (utilities)<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Food (groceries)<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Transportation (vehicles or transit systems)<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Healthcare (doctors, hospitals, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, the costs often extend beyond these basics to cover other expenses, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Clothing<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Education<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Childcare<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Entertainment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, your cost of living is primarily influenced by your income and debts, along with how this income compares to the costs of basic needs in the Tennessee city where you live \u2014 or want to live.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a quick look at some ways you can compare your current living cost with what you might experience if you move to Tennessee.<\/p>\n<div id=\"section--2\" data-toc-header=\"What\u2019s a Tennessee cost of living index (CLI)?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>What\u2019s a Tennessee cost of living index (CLI)?<\/h2>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cost-of-living_index\">cost of living index<\/a> (CLI) monitors how these basic expenses evolve in different cities or regions. They provide a way to compare the price of maintaining a certain standard of living.<\/p>\n<p>The CLI is calculated by assessing the price of essential goods and services such as housing, food, healthcare, and transportation in different areas.<\/p>\n<p>An index is typically standardized, with a base city or region assigned a baseline index value (often set at 100). Other cities or regions are then compared against this benchmark. For example, a Tennessee or city with a CLI of 120 would signify that living there is 20% more expensive than the base location, while an index of 80 indicates it&#8217;s 20% less expensive.<\/p>\n<p>A cost of living index will typically break down and score each basic expense by category. Here are separate scores for Tennessee from the <a href=\"https:\/\/worldpopulationreview.com\/state-rankings\/cost-of-living-index-by-state\">worldpopulationreview.com<\/a> Cost of Living Index:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Groceries: 97.80<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Housing: 82.90<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Utilities: 93.20<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Transportation: 90.00<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Health: 88.10<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Miscellaneous: 92.80<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When planning a move to Tennessee, see how the state ranks for \u201ccost of living\u201d expenses, including housing, food, transportation, and healthcare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":358,"featured_media":40861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,638,623],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-house-hunting","category-afford-home"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cost of Living in Tennessee: A Guide for Homebuyers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When planning a move to Tennessee, see how the state ranks for \u201ccost of living\u201d expenses, including housing, food, transportation, and healthcare.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-cost-of-living-in-tennessee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cost of Living in Tennessee: A Guide for Homebuyers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When planning a move to Tennessee, see how the state ranks for \u201ccost of living\u201d expenses, including housing, food, transportation, and healthcare.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-cost-of-living-in-tennessee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-14T23:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" 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