Moving to Louisiana from Tennessee
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Tennessee to Louisiana — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Tennessee to Louisiana, you would find that Louisiana is 7.0% cheaper than Tennessee. A $75,000 salary in Tennessee would need to be roughly $69,800 in Louisiana to maintain the same lifestyle. Nashville and New Orleans are about 470 mi apart.
Is Louisiana cheaper than Tennessee?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 1.7% more
Groceries
pay 0.8% less
Transportation
pay 3.1% more
Housing
pay 15.4% less
Childcare
pay 17.4% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 4.1% 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 Louisiana?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $69,800
To maintain the same standard of living in Louisiana
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 Louisiana cost about 7% more than cities in Tennessee.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Tennessee and Louisiana 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
Tennessee generally does better on safety, though Louisiana leads in violent crime rate.
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
Tennessee generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Louisiana leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Louisiana performs significantly better than Tennessee across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Tennessee performs better than Louisiana 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
Tennessee performs better than Louisiana 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 better than Louisiana 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 Louisiana vs Tennessee
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Nashville | New Orleans |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 53°/33°F (12°/1°C) | 65°/51°F (18°/10°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 78°/56°F (26°/14°C) | 84°/70°F (29°/21°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 87°/66°F (30°/19°C) | 89°/77°F (32°/25°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 60°/40°F (16°/4°C) | 71°/57°F (21°/14°C) |
View all months
| Month | Nashville | New Orleans |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47°/28°F (8.3°/-2.0°C) | 60°/46°F (15.6°/8.0°C) |
| Feb | 52°/32°F (11.0°/-0.2°C) | 64°/50°F (17.9°/9.9°C) |
| Mar | 61°/39°F (16.1°/3.9°C) | 71°/56°F (21.4°/13.3°C) |
| Apr | 71°/47°F (21.4°/8.6°C) | 77°/63°F (25.2°/17.1°C) |
| May | 78°/57°F (25.7°/13.8°C) | 85°/71°F (29.2°/21.5°C) |
| Jun | 86°/65°F (30.0°/18.6°C) | 89°/76°F (31.8°/24.4°C) |
| Jul | 89°/69°F (31.8°/20.8°C) | 90°/78°F (32.5°/25.5°C) |
| Aug | 89°/68°F (31.7°/20.2°C) | 91°/78°F (32.7°/25.7°C) |
| Sep | 82°/61°F (28.0°/15.9°C) | 87°/75°F (30.4°/23.7°C) |
| Oct | 72°/49°F (22.1°/9.4°C) | 79°/66°F (25.9°/18.9°C) |
| Nov | 60°/39°F (15.7°/4.1°C) | 71°/57°F (21.5°/13.7°C) |
| Dec | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.4°C) | 63°/49°F (17.0°/9.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Louisiana than Tennessee?
Generally yes: Louisiana runs about 7% cheaper than Tennessee on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to Louisiana?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $17,450 in Louisiana for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Louisiana safe?
Tennessee generally does better on safety, though Louisiana leads in violent crime rate.
How is healthcare in Louisiana compared to Tennessee?
Tennessee generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Louisiana leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Louisiana compared to Tennessee?
The average high temperature in New Orleans is 77°F, compared to 70°F in Nashville. New Orleans receives around 56.8 in of rainfall per year, while Nashville gets 47.2 in.
