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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Nashville to Rochester

Nashville, TN vs Rochester, NY

Simple answer

You'd likely save $382 a month in Rochester.

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 $455, with Nashville higher.

Tennessee has no tax on wages. New York taxes wages at rates up to 10.90%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.1 percentage points, higher in Tennessee. The effective property tax gap is 1.01 percentage points, higher in New York.

After a move from Tennessee to New York, 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 Nashville lines up with about $75,543 in Rochester on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Nashville

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,798
HUD area
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,627
All-items price parity
96.3
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
72.0
Mean commute
28.7 min
Median household income
$88,800

Rochester

Rochester, NY

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,416
HUD area
Rochester, NY MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,172
All-items price parity
97.0
Goods price parity
99.7
Utilities price parity
133.2
Mean commute
20.8 min
Median household income
$76,453

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

$75,543

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

After state and federal tax

$83,048

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

Rent only

$59,066

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

TaxTennesseeNew York
State income tax on wagesNo wage taxup to 10.90%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.6%8.5%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.45%1.45%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,790 a year in Tennessee and $5,818 in New York. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in New York

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • WIC

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • School meals

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    NashvilleMaybe

    RochesterMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    NashvilleLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • SSI

    NashvilleUnlikely

    RochesterUnlikely

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

Medicaid guide for New York · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Nashville

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

Nearby metros

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