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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Knoxville to Oklahoma City

Knoxville, TN vs Oklahoma City, OK

Simple answer

You'd likely save $211 a month in Oklahoma City.

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 Fair Market Rent. The 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap is $211: Knoxville is higher at $1,475 versus $1,264.

Tennessee has no tax on wages. Oklahoma taxes wages at rates up to 4.50%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.6 percentage points, higher in Tennessee. The effective property tax gap is 0.31 percentage points, higher in Oklahoma.

After a move from Tennessee to Oklahoma, 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 Knoxville lines up with about $73,249 in Oklahoma City on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Knoxville

Knoxville, TN

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,475
HUD area
Knoxville, TN HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,219
All-items price parity
92.6
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
71.9
Mean commute
24.7 min
Median household income
$74,184

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City, OK

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,264
HUD area
Oklahoma City, OK HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,162
All-items price parity
90.4
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
74.1
Mean commute
23.5 min
Median household income
$72,930

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

$73,249

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

After state and federal tax

$77,113

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

Rent only

$64,271

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

TaxTennesseeOklahoma
State income tax on wagesNo wage taxup to 4.50%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.6%9.1%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.45%0.75%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,790 a year in Tennessee and $3,011 in Oklahoma. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Oklahoma

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • WIC

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • School meals

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    KnoxvilleMaybe

    Oklahoma CityMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • SSI

    KnoxvilleUnlikely

    Oklahoma CityUnlikely

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

Medicaid guide for Oklahoma · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Knoxville

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

Nearby metros

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