Wilmington, NC vs Nashville, TN
Moving from Wilmington to Nashville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($446,210 → $455,958 median home) and taxes.
Wilmington 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 Wilmington, NC, you'd need about $101,658 in Nashville, TN (+$1,658).
Livability — Wilmington, NC: 65 · Nashville, TN: 63 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,241 sqft in Wilmington vs 2,193 sqft in Nashville ($223 vs $228 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Wilmington, NC | Nashville, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,496 | $21,576 | +$1,080 |
| Groceries | $4,840 | $4,715 | −$125 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $3,130 | +$0 |
| Utilities | $1,752 | $1,608 | −$144 |
| Insurance | $2,000 | $2,200 | +$200 |
| Taxes | $8,640 | $5,231 | −$3,409 |
| Total | $40,858 | $38,459 | −$2,399 |
Side by side
| Metric | Wilmington, NC | Nashville, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 95.4 | 97.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.08% | 3.80% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 4.4% | 8.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 39 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.43 | $5.52 |
| Median home price | $446,210 | $455,958 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 5.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.7% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $223 | $228 |
| Median rent | $1,708 | $1,798 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.9% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.98% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.25% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.64% | 0.55% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.10% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,000 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.3 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 400 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |