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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Chattanooga to Greensboro

Chattanooga, TN vs Greensboro, NC

Simple answer

You'd likely save $69 a month in Greensboro.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is Census rent. Census median gross rent differs by $94, with Chattanooga higher.

Tennessee has no tax on wages. North Carolina taxes wages at a flat 3.99%. Combined sales tax differs by 2.6 percentage points, higher in Tennessee. The effective property tax gap is 0.17 percentage points, higher in North Carolina.

After a move from Tennessee to North Carolina, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Chattanooga lines up with about $76,149 in Greensboro on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Chattanooga

Chattanooga, TN-GA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,340
HUD area
Chattanooga, TN-GA MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,265
All-items price parity
91.5
Goods price parity
96.0
Utilities price parity
74.2
Mean commute
24.5 min
Median household income
$75,076

Greensboro

Greensboro-High Point, NC

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,271
HUD area
Greensboro-High Point, NC HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,171
All-items price parity
92.9
Goods price parity
96.6
Utilities price parity
89.1
Mean commute
23.6 min
Median household income
$66,072

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$76,149

Salary in Greensboro that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$80,165

Gross salary in Greensboro whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$71,138

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxTennesseeNorth Carolina
State income tax on wagesNo wage tax3.99% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.6%7.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.45%0.61%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,790 a year in Tennessee and $2,455 in North Carolina. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in North Carolina

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Tennessee and once in North Carolina. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroLikely eligible

  • WIC

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroLikely eligible

  • School meals

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    ChattanoogaMaybe

    GreensboroMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    ChattanoogaLikely eligible

    GreensboroLikely eligible

  • SSI

    ChattanoogaUnlikely

    GreensboroUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Chattanooga the result is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” In Greensboro it is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” North Carolina expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for North Carolina · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Chattanooga

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Chattanooga.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.