Nashville, TN vs Rochester, NY
Moving from Nashville to Rochester? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($455,958 → $285,034 median home) and taxes.
Nashville vs Rochester 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 $101,407 in Rochester, NY (+$1,407).
Livability — Nashville, TN: 63 · Rochester, NY: 59 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,193 sqft in Nashville vs 2,807 sqft in Rochester ($228 vs $178 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Nashville, TN | Rochester, NY | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $21,576 | $19,164 | −$2,412 |
| Groceries | $4,715 | $4,868 | +$154 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $3,895 | +$765 |
| Utilities | $1,608 | $3,180 | +$1,572 |
| Insurance | $2,200 | $1,600 | −$600 |
| Taxes | $5,231 | $18,722 | +$13,492 |
| Total | $38,459 | $51,429 | +$12,970 |
Side by side
| Metric | Nashville, TN | Rochester, NY |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.0 | 98.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.80% | 5.01% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.8% | 0.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 51 | 39 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.52 | $5.60 |
| Median home price | $455,958 | $285,034 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.8× | 4.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.9% | 4.7% |
| Price per square foot | $228 | $178 |
| Median rent | $1,798 | $1,597 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 7.6% | 15.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.55% | 8.52% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 10.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.55% | 2.76% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,300 | $7,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,000 | $17,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 21 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,200 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.9 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 3.45 |
| Violent crime /100k | 600 | 350 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 83 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 16 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |