Washington, DC · Nashville, TN
Nashville is 27% cheaper than Washington overall.
Home Price
Washington: $575,000
Nashville: $445,000
Monthly Rent
Washington: $2,195/mo
Nashville: $1,556/mo
COL Index
Washington: 154
Nashville: 112
Median Income
Washington: $98,700
Nashville: $72,200
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Washington has the same purchasing power as $72,727 in Nashville — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Nashville cost 23% more (-$130,000 extra). Expect a larger mortgage and down payment.
Renting in Nashville saves you $639/month — $7,668 per year. Median rent: $2,195/mo in Washington vs $1,556/mo in Nashville.
On a median-priced home, Washington owners pay roughly $3,278/year in property taxes vs $3,071/year in Nashville. That's a $207 annual difference.
Median household income is $98,700 in Washington and $72,200 in Nashville. Nashville residents earn 27% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 34 minutes in Washington vs 27 minutes in Nashville. Over a year, that's 3500 extra minutes (58 hours) of commuting in Washington.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Washington to Nashville, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Washington | Equivalent in Nashville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $36,364 | -$13,636 |
| $75,000 | $54,545 | -$20,455 |
| $100,000 | $72,727 | -$27,273 |
| $150,000 | $109,091 | -$40,909 |
| $200,000 | $145,455 | -$54,545 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Based on cost of living indices, Nashville is cheaper overall. Washington has a COL index of 154 while Nashville scores 112 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Washington is $575,000 vs $445,000 in Nashville — a difference of $130,000 (23%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Washington is equivalent to $72,727 in Nashville in terms of purchasing power.
Washington has a lower property tax rate (0.57% vs 0.69%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $3,071/year vs $3,278/year.
Median monthly rent: $2,195 in Washington vs $1,556 in Nashville. Annualized: $26,340 vs $18,672.
Washington: $98,700/yr. Nashville: $72,200/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Nashville typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .