Moving to Tennessee from Kentucky
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Kentucky to Tennessee — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Kentucky to Tennessee, you would find that Tennessee is 10.9% more expensive than Kentucky. A $75,000 salary in Kentucky would need to be roughly $83,200 in Tennessee to maintain the same lifestyle. Louisville and Nashville are about 160 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Tennessee? Get a shortlist of towns in Tennessee that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Tennessee cheaper than Kentucky?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 18.9% more
Groceries
pay 5.2% more
Transportation
pay 1.9% more
Housing
pay 22.8% more
Childcare
pay 16.0% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 10.1% more
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 → $83,200
To maintain the same standard of living in Tennessee
Calculate with your salary →Key Indicator Comparison
How Kentucky and Tennessee stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Kentucky 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
Kentucky generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Tennessee leads in adult obesity rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Kentucky performs better than Tennessee across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Kentucky generally does better on infrastructure, though Tennessee leads in internet access.
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
Tennessee performs significantly better than Kentucky across all employment & economy metrics.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Tennessee performs significantly better than Kentucky across all family life metrics.
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 Kentucky
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Louisville | Nashville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 50°/32°F (10°/0°C) | 53°/33°F (12°/1°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 77°/57°F (25°/14°C) | 78°/56°F (26°/14°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 86°/66°F (30°/19°C) | 87°/66°F (30°/19°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 58°/40°F (14°/4°C) | 60°/40°F (16°/4°C) |
View all months
| Month | Louisville | Nashville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 43°/27°F (6.1°/-2.9°C) | 47°/28°F (8.3°/-2.0°C) |
| Feb | 48°/30°F (8.8°/-1.2°C) | 52°/32°F (11.0°/-0.2°C) |
| Mar | 58°/38°F (14.4°/3.2°C) | 61°/39°F (16.1°/3.9°C) |
| Apr | 69°/47°F (20.4°/8.5°C) | 71°/47°F (21.4°/8.6°C) |
| May | 77°/57°F (25.1°/13.9°C) | 78°/57°F (25.7°/13.8°C) |
| Jun | 85°/66°F (29.6°/18.9°C) | 86°/65°F (30.0°/18.6°C) |
| Jul | 89°/70°F (31.5°/21.1°C) | 89°/69°F (31.8°/20.8°C) |
| Aug | 88°/69°F (31.3°/20.3°C) | 89°/68°F (31.7°/20.2°C) |
| Sep | 82°/60°F (27.5°/15.8°C) | 82°/61°F (28.0°/15.9°C) |
| Oct | 70°/49°F (21.2°/9.4°C) | 72°/49°F (22.1°/9.4°C) |
| Nov | 58°/40°F (14.4°/4.2°C) | 60°/39°F (15.7°/4.1°C) |
| Dec | 46°/30°F (7.7°/-1.1°C) | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.4°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Tennessee than Kentucky?
Day-to-day costs in Tennessee run about 11% higher than Kentucky on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Tennessee?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $20,800 in Tennessee for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Tennessee safe?
Kentucky performs better than Tennessee across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Tennessee compared to Kentucky?
Kentucky generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Tennessee leads in adult obesity rate.
What's the weather like in Tennessee compared to Kentucky?
The average high temperature in Nashville is 70°F, compared to 68°F in Louisville. Nashville receives around 47.2 in of rainfall per year, while Louisville gets 44.9 in.
