Sacramento, CA vs Chattanooga, TN
Moving from Sacramento to Chattanooga? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($582,707 → $326,370 median home) and taxes.
Sacramento vs Chattanooga 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 Sacramento, CA, you'd need about $84,654 in Chattanooga, TN (−$15,346).
Livability — Sacramento, CA: 49 · Chattanooga, TN: 67 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,287 sqft in Sacramento vs 3,064 sqft in Chattanooga ($389 vs $163 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Sacramento, CA | Chattanooga, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,396 | $18,360 | −$9,036 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,704 | −$543 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,130 | −$1,995 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,608 | −$2,196 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,200 | +$700 |
| Taxes | $20,410 | $4,907 | −$15,503 |
| Total | $63,482 | $34,908 | −$28,574 |
Side by side
| Metric | Sacramento, CA | Chattanooga, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 109.1 | 92.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.74% | 4.49% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.21 | $5.25 |
| Median home price | $582,707 | $326,370 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 5.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.6% | 0.2% |
| Price per square foot | $389 | $163 |
| Median rent | $2,283 | $1,530 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.79% | 0.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $121 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $80 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 19.2 | 50.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 4.7 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 78% | 60% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |