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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Memphis earns its position at #1 through a combination that's hard to replicate. The 86 cost index sits 26 points below the national baseline, and the $51,211 median income means purchasing power here is amplified by the low cost base. Homes list at $142,870 — $324,500 below the national median — a …
#1 Ranked: Memphis — cost index 86, rent $1,234/mo, income $51,211
Singles scoring: rent $1,234/mo (solo housing), cost index 86, population 618,639 — livability on one income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Memphis | 86 | $1,234 | Details |
| 2 | Chattanooga | 98 | $1,499 | Details |
| 3 | Clarksville | 96 | $1,376 | Details |
| 4 | Nashville | 108 | $1,772 | Details |
| 5 | Knoxville | 104 | $1,708 | Details |
| 6 | Murfreesboro | 106 | $1,683 | Details |
Memphis earns its position at #1 through a combination that's hard to replicate. The 86 cost index sits 26 points below the national baseline, and the $51,211 median income means purchasing power here is amplified by the low cost base. Homes list at $142,870 — $324,500 below the national median — a genuine ownership opportunity. On the cost side, Housing leads the way at 66, while Healthcare trails at 89. I'll say what the data can't: this city punches above its weight in ways that don't show up in a spreadsheet. There's a reason people who move here tend to stay. You can call it quality of life, you can call it vibes, whatever — the point is, the cost structure gives people room to actually enjoy where they live, and that's increasingly rare in this country.
Single-income living means absorbing 100% of housing costs. Our model weights rent under $1,300 (20pts), cost of living (15pts), and city population (10pts) — because a social scene matters when you're on your own. Memphis at $1,234/mo in a city of 618,639 hits the right balance. Chattanooga offers a larger city as a runner-up.
No second income to fall back on. Our model scored 6 cities in Tennessee on solo-living metrics. Memphis leads at index 86 with rent of $1,234/mo.
Flip the lens, and you get a different read: Tennessee — no income tax, Nashville boom, and Memphis blues. The 6 cities we track here average a cost index of 100 and median income of $63,576. It's a clear buyer's market compared to national norms. The typical rent runs $1,545/month, which is $350 less than the national median.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
618,639 residents · Tennessee
Memphis earns its position at #1 through a combination that's hard to replicate. The 86 cost index sits 26 points below the national baseline, and the $51,211 median income means purchasing power here is amplified by the low cost base. Homes list at $142,870 — $324,500 below the national median — a genuine ownership opportunity. On the cost side, Housing leads the way at 66, while Healthcare trails at 89.
187,030 residents · Tennessee
Dive into Chattanooga's numbers: cost index 98 (14 points below national average), rent $1,499/month, income $61,028, and a home price of $314,306. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Utilities is the cheapest category at 90, while Healthcare runs 101. With 187,030 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
180,716 residents · Tennessee
Clarksville earns its position at #3 through a combination that's hard to replicate. The 96 cost index sits 16 points below the national baseline, and the $66,786 median income means purchasing power here is amplified by the low cost base. Homes list at $316,024 — $151,346 below the national median — a genuine ownership opportunity. On the cost side, Utilities leads the way at 89, while Healthcare trails at 99.
687,788 residents · Tennessee
Here's Nashville by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). And most of the time, cost index: 108. Rent: $1,772/month. That's more or less in line with the region. Income: $75,197/year. Home price: $429,861. Population: 687,788. The strongest category is Utilities at 99; the most expensive is Housing at 120. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $1,476 per year vs. the national median. That adds up much faster than people realize.
198,162 residents · Tennessee
Why Knoxville ranks #5: the numbers tell a clear story. At 104 on the cost index, residents save roughly 8% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,708/month while the median household pulls in $50,994/year. The Utilities category is particularly strong at 96, though Housing (110) lags behind. Fairly typical for a city this size. Home prices average $363,688 — $103,682 below the national median (more on that below).
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to singles. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Memphis ranks #1 in Tennessee for this analysis with a cost index of 86 and median income of $51,211.
Memphis scores highest for singles due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,234/mo, and competitive median income of $51,211.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Memphis (ranked #1) has a cost index of 86 and rent of $1,234/mo, while Murfreesboro (ranked #6) has a cost index of 106 and rent of $1,683/mo — a 20-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Memphis is $1,234/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $661 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Memphis is $142,870, which is 2.8× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. The national median home price is $467,370.
Tennessee has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 9.55%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.56%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.