Moving to Tennessee from Idaho
What to Expect
Everything you need to know before relocating from Idaho to Tennessee — costs, safety, healthcare, and practical first steps.
If you moved from Idaho to Tennessee, you would find that Tennessee is 5.9% more expensive than Idaho. A $75,000 salary in Idaho would need to be roughly $79,400 in Tennessee to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Nashville averages 70°F vs 59°F in Idaho Falls, making it significantly warmer. Idaho Falls and Nashville are about 1,450 mi apart.
Is Tennessee cheaper than Idaho?
Where you'll feel the difference day-to-day
Restaurants
pay 10.2% more
Groceries
pay 10.5% more
Transportation
pay 2.6% less
Housing
pay 7.1% more
Childcare
pay 2.7% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 4.4% less
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Tennessee?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $79,400
To maintain the same standard of living in Tennessee
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Tennessee cost about 4% less than cities in Idaho.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
Key indicators for anyone considering a move from Idaho to Tennessee.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Idaho performs better than Tennessee across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Idaho performs better than Tennessee across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Tennessee generally does better on what about housing?, though Idaho leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Idaho performs better than Tennessee across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Idaho generally does better on employment & economy, though Tennessee leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Idaho generally does better on family life, though Tennessee leads in bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Tennessee vs Idaho
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Idaho Falls | Nashville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 39°/19°F (4°/-7°C) | 53°/33°F (12°/1°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 69°/40°F (20°/5°C) | 78°/56°F (26°/14°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 83°/49°F (29°/9°C) | 87°/66°F (30°/19°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 45°/24°F (7°/-5°C) | 60°/40°F (16°/4°C) |
View all months
| Month | Idaho Falls | Nashville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/14°F (-0.7°/-10.2°C) | 47°/28°F (8.3°/-2.0°C) |
| Feb | 36°/17°F (2.3°/-8.4°C) | 52°/32°F (11.0°/-0.2°C) |
| Mar | 49°/26°F (9.3°/-3.2°C) | 61°/39°F (16.1°/3.9°C) |
| Apr | 59°/33°F (15.2°/0.3°C) | 71°/47°F (21.4°/8.6°C) |
| May | 69°/40°F (20.3°/4.7°C) | 78°/57°F (25.7°/13.8°C) |
| Jun | 78°/47°F (25.6°/8.6°C) | 86°/65°F (30.0°/18.6°C) |
| Jul | 87°/53°F (30.7°/11.7°C) | 89°/69°F (31.8°/20.8°C) |
| Aug | 87°/51°F (30.6°/10.7°C) | 89°/68°F (31.7°/20.2°C) |
| Sep | 76°/42°F (24.3°/5.8°C) | 82°/61°F (28.0°/15.9°C) |
| Oct | 61°/33°F (16.3°/0.4°C) | 72°/49°F (22.1°/9.4°C) |
| Nov | 44°/24°F (6.4°/-4.7°C) | 60°/39°F (15.7°/4.1°C) |
| Dec | 31°/15°F (-0.5°/-9.7°C) | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.4°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Tennessee than Idaho?
No — Tennessee is on average about 6% more expensive than Idaho. City-level variation matters.
How much money do I need to move to Tennessee?
Plan for at least 3 months of living expenses — roughly $19,850 in Tennessee on a $75,000 comparable salary — plus one-off moving costs (movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit).
Is Tennessee safe?
Idaho performs better than Tennessee across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Tennessee compared to Idaho?
Idaho performs better than Tennessee across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Tennessee compared to Idaho?
The average high temperature in Nashville is 70°F, compared to 59°F in Idaho Falls. Nashville receives around 47.2 in of rainfall per year, while Idaho Falls gets 14.3 in.
