Madison, WI vs Nashville, TN
Moving from Madison to Nashville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($452,769 → $455,958 median home) and taxes.
Madison 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 Madison, WI, you'd need about $101,136 in Nashville, TN (+$1,136).
Livability — Madison, WI: 62 · Nashville, TN: 63 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,878 sqft in Madison vs 2,193 sqft in Nashville ($266 vs $228 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Madison, WI | Nashville, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,196 | $21,576 | +$1,380 |
| Groceries | $4,691 | $4,715 | +$23 |
| Transportation | $3,085 | $3,130 | +$45 |
| Utilities | $2,076 | $1,608 | −$468 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $2,200 | +$900 |
| Taxes | $15,162 | $5,231 | −$9,931 |
| Total | $46,510 | $38,459 | −$8,051 |
Side by side
| Metric | Madison, WI | Nashville, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 95.9 | 97.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.42% | 3.80% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 6.1% | 8.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.46 | $5.52 |
| Median home price | $452,769 | $455,958 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.5× | 5.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.7% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $266 | $228 |
| Median rent | $1,683 | $1,798 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.9% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.43% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.65% | None |
| Property tax rate | 1.75% | 0.55% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $13,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $600 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 19.2 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $42 | $121 |
| Home internet / mo | $85 | $80 |
| Violent crime /100k | 320 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 8 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 34.6 | 50.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 48.7 | 4.7 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 54% | 56% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |