Philadelphia, PA → Nashville, TN
You'd keep $242 more a month in Nashville
+$2,904 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 196 households moved Philadelphia → Nashville (avg AGI $103,041). 76 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Philadelphia | Nashville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $8,125 | $7,578 | −$547 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,264 | $1,548 | −$716 |
| Take-home pay | $5,861 | $6,030 | +$169 |
| Rent | $1,541 | $1,399 | −$142 |
| Getting around | $418 | $559 | +$141 |
| Groceries | $408 | $388 | −$20 |
| Healthcare | $459 | $437 | −$22 |
| Utilities | $255 | $243 | −$12 |
| Everything else | $357 | $340 | −$17 |
| Left over | $2,423 | $2,665 | +$242 |
To break even in Nashville, you'd need to earn
$87,000
Household gross, versus $97,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Philadelphia does now.
The tax difference alone
+$6,650
A year, in state and local income tax. Tennessee has no wage income tax.
More about Nashville
Philadelphia, PA in full
East Coast density at half of Boston's rent, minus a 3.75% city wage tax.
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 → Philadelphia →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.