Nashville, TN vs Tulsa, OK
Moving from Nashville to Tulsa? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($455,958 → $253,725 median home) and taxes.
Nashville vs Tulsa 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 $92,652 in Tulsa, OK (−$7,348).
Livability — Nashville, TN: 63 · Tulsa, OK: 71 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,193 sqft in Nashville vs 3,745 sqft in Tulsa ($228 vs $134 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Nashville, TN | Tulsa, OK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $21,576 | $16,224 | −$5,352 |
| Groceries | $4,715 | $4,667 | −$47 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $3,575 | +$445 |
| Utilities | $1,608 | $1,440 | −$168 |
| Insurance | $2,200 | $4,400 | +$2,200 |
| Taxes | $5,231 | $9,670 | +$4,439 |
| Total | $38,459 | $39,976 | +$1,517 |
Side by side
| Metric | Nashville, TN | Tulsa, OK |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.0 | 89.9 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.80% | 5.14% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.8% | 4.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.52 | $5.12 |
| Median home price | $455,958 | $253,725 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.8× | 3.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.9% | 2.8% |
| Price per square foot | $228 | $134 |
| Median rent | $1,798 | $1,352 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 7.6% | 9.0% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.55% | 8.99% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.55% | 0.94% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,300 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 22 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,200 | $4,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,000 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $300 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.9 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $62 | $56 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $121 | $83 |
| Home internet / mo | $80 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 600 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 94 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 27 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 50.5 | 41.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 4.7 | 8.7 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 56% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |