Little Rock, AR vs Nashville, TN
Moving from Little Rock to Nashville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($231,039 → $455,958 median home) and taxes.
Little Rock 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 Little Rock, AR, you'd need about $108,395 in Nashville, TN (+$8,395).
Livability — Little Rock, AR: 69 · Nashville, TN: 63 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 4,329 sqft in Little Rock vs 2,193 sqft in Nashville ($116 vs $228 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Little Rock, AR | Nashville, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $14,952 | $21,576 | +$6,624 |
| Groceries | $4,655 | $4,715 | +$60 |
| Transportation | $3,405 | $3,130 | −$275 |
| Utilities | $1,524 | $1,608 | +$84 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $2,200 | −$600 |
| Taxes | $8,521 | $5,231 | −$3,290 |
| Total | $35,856 | $38,459 | +$2,603 |
Side by side
| Metric | Little Rock, AR | Nashville, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 89.5 | 97.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.56% | 3.80% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.6% | 8.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 55 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.09 | $5.52 |
| Median home price | $231,039 | $455,958 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.7× | 5.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.5% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $116 | $228 |
| Median rent | $1,246 | $1,798 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.2% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.47% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 3.90% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.70% | 0.55% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $7,500 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.02% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.2 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 640 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 93 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |