Moving from Iowa to Tennessee
Everyone compares rent and groceries. Almost nobody compares the two numbers that actually decide whether a move works: state income tax and property tax. Here is Iowa and Tennessee, side by side.
Moving to Tennessee costs about
About the same
Iowa and Tennessee work out within $50/mo of each other
Worth knowing
Tennessee has no state income tax, and it still costs more
Moving to Tennessee would save you about $202 a month in state income tax. It also costs about $222 a month more in everything else, so you end up roughly $20 a month worse off. No income tax does not mean no taxes.
Iowa vs Tennessee at a glance
| Iowa | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $208,000 | $286,700 |
| Median rent | $972/mo | $1,189/mo |
| State income tax | Flat 3.80% | No state income tax |
| Property tax rate | 1.39% | 0.50% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 94 | 96 |
| Utilities | 83 | 72 |
Price levels are indexes where 100 is the national average. They cover everyday spending only; housing is the two rows above.
What changes each month
| Monthly | IA | TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent) | $972 | $1,189 | +$217 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $202 | $0 | -$202 |
| Local income tax (state average) | $7 | None | -$7 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $84 | $99 | +$15 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,718 | $1,765 | +$46 |
| Utilities | $340 | $295 | -$45 |
| Total | +$20 | ||
What the move itself costs
$1,900 to $4,400
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $500 to $750, against roughly $200 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 2-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Des Moines is not Iowa-average and Nashville is not Tennessee-average, so a specific city can look nothing like its state. Compare metro areas instead to narrow it to 387 real places, including which side of a state line you would live on.
Run this with your own numbers
Estimates only, not advice. Housing and income figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024); price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024); tax rates are for the 2026 tax year, compiled from state revenue departments and the Tax Foundation. Moving costs are modelled from published ranges rather than quoted. Every figure is a statewide median or average and will not match any particular household.