Moving from North Dakota 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 North Dakota and Tennessee, side by side.
Moving to Tennessee costs about
+$240/mo
more than North Dakota each month, renting
Worth knowing
Tennessee has no state income tax, and it still costs more
Moving to Tennessee would save you about $27 a month in state income tax. It also costs about $267 a month more in everything else, so you end up roughly $240 a month worse off. No income tax does not mean no taxes.
North Dakota vs Tennessee at a glance
| North Dakota | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $249,900 | $286,700 |
| Median rent | $954/mo | $1,189/mo |
| State income tax | Up to 2.50% | No state income tax |
| Property tax rate | 0.99% | 0.50% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 96 | 96 |
| Utilities | 74 | 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 | ND | TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent)Biggest factor | $954 | $1,189 | +$235 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $27 | $0 | -$27 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $69 | $99 | +$30 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,755 | $1,765 | +$10 |
| Utilities | $301 | $295 | -$6 |
| Total | +$240 | ||
What the move itself costs
$2,700 to $5,800
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $800 to $1,150, against roughly $450 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 3-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Fargo is not North Dakota-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.