Hartford, CT vs Nashville, TN
Moving from Hartford to Nashville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($400,167 → $455,958 median home) and taxes.
Hartford vs Nashville at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Hartford, CT, you'd need about $93,931 in Nashville, TN (−$6,069).
Livability — Hartford, CT: 59 · Nashville, TN: 63 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,374 sqft in Hartford vs 2,193 sqft in Nashville ($211 vs $228 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Hartford, CT | Nashville, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,700 | $21,576 | −$2,124 |
| Groceries | $4,930 | $4,715 | −$215 |
| Transportation | $3,720 | $3,130 | −$590 |
| Utilities | $3,480 | $1,608 | −$1,872 |
| Insurance | $1,600 | $2,200 | +$600 |
| Taxes | $15,460 | $5,231 | −$10,229 |
| Total | $52,890 | $38,459 | −$14,430 |
Side by side
| Metric | Hartford, CT | Nashville, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 103.3 | 97.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.42% | 3.80% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | 8.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.88 | $5.52 |
| Median home price | $400,167 | $455,958 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.5× | 5.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 5.2% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $211 | $228 |
| Median rent | $1,975 | $1,798 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 15.4% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.35% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 6.99% | None |
| Property tax rate | 2.16% | 0.55% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,200 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.07% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 24 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 32.2 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $106 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $88 | $121 |
| Home internet / mo | $66 | $80 |
| Violent crime /100k | 150 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 85 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 18 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 47.1 | 50.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 51.7 | 4.7 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 56% | 56% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 2 |