Moving from Columbus to Nashville
You'd keep $23 more a month in Nashville
+$276 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
Columbus leftover
$2,646
a month after tax and rent
Nashville leftover
$2,669
+$23 vs Columbus
In 2022-2023, 154 households moved Columbus → Nashville (avg AGI $66,227). 115 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Columbus | Nashville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,583 | $0 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,888 | $1,550 | −$338 |
| Take-home pay | $5,695 | $6,034 | +$338 |
| Rent | $1,174 | $1,399 | +$225 |
| Getting around | $526 | $559 | +$33 |
| Groceries | $372 | $388 | +$16 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $437 | +$18 |
| Utilities | $233 | $243 | +$10 |
| Everything else | $326 | $340 | +$14 |
| Left over | $2,646 | $2,669 | +$23 |
To break even in Nashville, you'd need to earn
$90,500
Household gross, versus $91,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Columbus does now.
The tax difference alone
+$4,061
A year, in state and local income tax. Tennessee has no wage income tax.
More about Nashville
Columbus, OH in full
The most affordable large metro with a growing white-collar job base.
Nashville, TN in full
No income tax and a real music and healthcare economy; traffic is the tax.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Nashville on Nashville wages.
Nashville → Columbus →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Nashville than Columbus?
A one-bedroom is about $1,174 in Columbus versus $1,399 in Nashville. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $23 a month higher in Nashville. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Nashville have state income tax?
Nashville is in Tennessee, which has no state income tax.
What changes if you move from Columbus to Nashville?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Tennessee tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.