Nashville, TN vs Fort Wayne, IN
Moving from Nashville to Fort Wayne? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($455,958 → $259,816 median home) and taxes.
Nashville vs Fort Wayne 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 $92,501 in Fort Wayne, IN (−$7,499).
Livability — Nashville, TN: 63 · Fort Wayne, IN: 72 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,193 sqft in Nashville vs 3,658 sqft in Fort Wayne ($228 vs $137 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Nashville, TN | Fort Wayne, IN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $21,576 | $15,168 | −$6,408 |
| Groceries | $4,715 | $4,740 | +$25 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $3,250 | +$120 |
| Utilities | $1,608 | $1,932 | +$324 |
| Insurance | $2,200 | $1,600 | −$600 |
| Taxes | $5,231 | $6,922 | +$1,692 |
| Total | $38,459 | $33,612 | −$4,847 |
Side by side
| Metric | Nashville, TN | Fort Wayne, IN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.0 | 89.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.80% | 4.76% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.8% | -2.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.52 | $5.11 |
| Median home price | $455,958 | $259,816 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.8× | 3.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.9% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $228 | $137 |
| Median rent | $1,798 | $1,264 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 7.6% | 9.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.55% | 7.00% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 3.05% |
| Property tax rate | 0.55% | 0.81% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,300 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.20% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 22 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,200 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.9 | 17.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $62 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $121 | $102 |
| Home internet / mo | $80 | $81 |
| Violent crime /100k | 600 | 360 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 86 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 20 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 50.5 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 4.7 | 25.5 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 56% | 55% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |