Nashville, TN vs Columbia, SC
Moving from Nashville to Columbia? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($455,958 → $256,154 median home) and taxes.
Nashville vs Columbia 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 Nashville, TN, you'd need about $96,082 in Columbia, SC (−$3,918).
Livability — Nashville, TN: 63 · Columbia, SC: 69 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,193 sqft in Nashville vs 3,903 sqft in Columbia ($228 vs $128 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Nashville, TN | Columbia, SC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $21,576 | $18,444 | −$3,132 |
| Groceries | $4,715 | $4,797 | +$83 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $3,465 | +$335 |
| Utilities | $1,608 | $1,848 | +$240 |
| Insurance | $2,200 | $2,000 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $5,231 | $10,215 | +$4,985 |
| Total | $38,459 | $40,769 | +$2,310 |
Side by side
| Metric | Nashville, TN | Columbia, SC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.0 | 93.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.80% | 5.71% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.8% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.52 | $5.30 |
| Median home price | $455,958 | $256,154 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.8× | 4.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.9% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $228 | $128 |
| Median rent | $1,798 | $1,537 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 7.6% | 8.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.55% | 7.44% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 6.40% |
| Property tax rate | 0.55% | 0.63% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,300 | $6,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,000 | $8,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.33% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,200 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.9 | 17.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 3.05 |
| Natural gas / mo | $62 | $56 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $121 | $97 |
| Home internet / mo | $80 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 600 | 530 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 36 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 50.5 | 49.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 4.7 | 1.5 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 56% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |