Portland, ME vs Nashville, TN
Moving from Portland to Nashville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($542,063 → $455,958 median home) and taxes.
Portland 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 Portland, ME, you'd need about $92,976 in Nashville, TN (−$7,024).
Livability — Portland, ME: 58 · Nashville, TN: 63 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,568 sqft in Portland vs 2,193 sqft in Nashville ($319 vs $228 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Portland, ME | Nashville, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,840 | $21,576 | −$6,264 |
| Groceries | $4,917 | $4,715 | −$202 |
| Transportation | $2,775 | $3,130 | +$355 |
| Utilities | $3,072 | $1,608 | −$1,464 |
| Insurance | $1,000 | $2,200 | +$1,200 |
| Taxes | $12,997 | $5,231 | −$7,766 |
| Total | $52,601 | $38,459 | −$14,142 |
Side by side
| Metric | Portland, ME | Nashville, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 104.4 | 97.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.37% | 3.80% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.2% | 8.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 39 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.94 | $5.52 |
| Median home price | $542,063 | $455,958 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.4× | 5.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.0% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $319 | $228 |
| Median rent | $2,320 | $1,798 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.4% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.50% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.15% | None |
| Property tax rate | 1.14% | 0.55% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,000 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $12,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.40% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,000 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,000 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 28.4 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.35 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 110 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 80 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 10 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |