Moving to Texas from Tennessee
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Tennessee to Texas — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Tennessee to Texas, you would find that Texas is 2.9% cheaper than Tennessee. A $75,000 salary in Tennessee would need to be roughly $72,900 in Texas to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Houston averages 80°F vs 70°F in Nashville, making it significantly warmer. Nashville and Houston are about 670 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Texas? Get a shortlist of towns in Texas that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Texas cheaper than Tennessee?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 0.2% less
Groceries
pay 7.6% less
Transportation
pay 11.6% more
Housing
pay 8.4% less
Childcare
pay 9.7% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 1.0% 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 Texas?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $72,900
To maintain the same standard of living in Texas
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 Texas cost about 5% more than cities in Tennessee.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Tennessee and Texas 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
Texas performs significantly 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
Tennessee generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Texas leads in adult obesity rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Tennessee performs better than Texas across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Tennessee generally does better on infrastructure, though Texas 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
Texas 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
Texas performs significantly 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 Texas vs Tennessee
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Nashville | Houston |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 53°/33°F (12°/1°C) | 67°/48°F (20°/9°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 78°/56°F (26°/14°C) | 86°/67°F (30°/19°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 87°/66°F (30°/19°C) | 93°/73°F (34°/23°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 60°/40°F (16°/4°C) | 73°/53°F (23°/11°C) |
View all months
| Month | Nashville | Houston |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47°/28°F (8.3°/-2.0°C) | 63°/43°F (17.2°/6.2°C) |
| Feb | 52°/32°F (11.0°/-0.2°C) | 66°/47°F (19.1°/8.1°C) |
| Mar | 61°/39°F (16.1°/3.9°C) | 73°/53°F (22.8°/11.4°C) |
| Apr | 71°/47°F (21.4°/8.6°C) | 80°/59°F (26.4°/15.2°C) |
| May | 78°/57°F (25.7°/13.8°C) | 86°/68°F (30.2°/19.8°C) |
| Jun | 86°/65°F (30.0°/18.6°C) | 91°/73°F (33.0°/22.9°C) |
| Jul | 89°/69°F (31.8°/20.8°C) | 94°/75°F (34.3°/23.9°C) |
| Aug | 89°/68°F (31.7°/20.2°C) | 94°/75°F (34.7°/23.8°C) |
| Sep | 82°/61°F (28.0°/15.9°C) | 90°/70°F (32.1°/21.0°C) |
| Oct | 72°/49°F (22.1°/9.4°C) | 82°/61°F (27.8°/16.1°C) |
| Nov | 60°/39°F (15.7°/4.1°C) | 72°/52°F (22.5°/11.2°C) |
| Dec | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.4°C) | 64°/45°F (17.9°/7.0°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Texas than Tennessee?
Generally yes: Texas runs about 3% cheaper than Tennessee on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to Texas?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $18,225 in Texas for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Texas safe?
Texas performs significantly better than Tennessee across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Texas compared to Tennessee?
Tennessee generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Texas leads in adult obesity rate.
What's the weather like in Texas compared to Tennessee?
The average high temperature in Houston is 80°F, compared to 70°F in Nashville. Houston receives around 49.8 in of rainfall per year, while Nashville gets 47.2 in.
