Moving to Tennessee from Maine
What to Expect
Considering a move from Maine to Tennessee? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Maine to Tennessee, you would find that Tennessee is 8.0% cheaper than Maine. A $75,000 salary in Maine would need to be roughly $69,000 in Tennessee to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Nashville averages 70°F vs 56°F in Portland, making it significantly warmer. Portland and Nashville are about 1,000 mi apart.
Is Tennessee cheaper than Maine?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 7.3% less
Groceries
pay 13.4% less
Transportation
pay 0.2% more
Housing
pay 3.6% less
Childcare
pay 37.1% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 3.0% 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 → $69,000
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 8% less than cities in Maine.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Tennessee compared to Maine.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Maine 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
Maine 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
Maine generally does better on what about housing?, though Tennessee leads in median home value.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Maine 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
Maine generally does better on employment & economy, though Tennessee leads in gdp per capita.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Maine performs better than Tennessee 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 Maine
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Portland | Nashville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 36°/18°F (2°/-8°C) | 53°/33°F (12°/1°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 63°/44°F (17°/7°C) | 78°/56°F (26°/14°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 76°/56°F (24°/13°C) | 87°/66°F (30°/19°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/30°F (9°/-1°C) | 60°/40°F (16°/4°C) |
View all months
| Month | Portland | Nashville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/13°F (-0.4°/-10.3°C) | 47°/28°F (8.3°/-2.0°C) |
| Feb | 35°/16°F (1.4°/-8.7°C) | 52°/32°F (11.0°/-0.2°C) |
| Mar | 42°/25°F (5.6°/-3.9°C) | 61°/39°F (16.1°/3.9°C) |
| Apr | 53°/35°F (11.8°/1.5°C) | 71°/47°F (21.4°/8.6°C) |
| May | 64°/44°F (17.5°/6.8°C) | 78°/57°F (25.7°/13.8°C) |
| Jun | 73°/54°F (22.9°/12.0°C) | 86°/65°F (30.0°/18.6°C) |
| Jul | 79°/59°F (26.0°/15.2°C) | 89°/69°F (31.8°/20.8°C) |
| Aug | 78°/58°F (25.4°/14.6°C) | 89°/68°F (31.7°/20.2°C) |
| Sep | 70°/50°F (21.1°/10.2°C) | 82°/61°F (28.0°/15.9°C) |
| Oct | 59°/39°F (14.8°/3.8°C) | 72°/49°F (22.1°/9.4°C) |
| Nov | 48°/31°F (8.9°/-0.6°C) | 60°/39°F (15.7°/4.1°C) |
| Dec | 37°/20°F (2.9°/-6.4°C) | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.4°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Tennessee than Maine?
On average Tennessee is about 8% less expensive than Maine, with major cities narrowing the gap.
How much money do I need to move to Tennessee?
Budget about $17,250 for 3 months in Tennessee (based on a $75,000 comparable annual salary), then add the one-off costs: movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Tennessee safe?
Maine performs better than Tennessee across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Tennessee compared to Maine?
Maine performs better than Tennessee across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Tennessee compared to Maine?
The average high temperature in Nashville is 70°F, compared to 56°F in Portland. Nashville receives around 47.2 in of rainfall per year, while Portland gets 47.2 in.
