Relocating from SW Florida to TN (Knoxville, Chattanooga: sales, house, neighborhoods)

[twinter357]

Good morning and thanks for taking some time to help me out. My company has recently announced that we will be 100% virtual and I could not be more excited! I have considered relocating to the Knoxville or Chattanooga areas. But have a few questions before making the big move.

1) Cost of Living? I am paying $1250 for a 3/2/2 - would that be comparable?
2) State Taxes (we currently do not pay state tax here). What are the taxes there?
3) Which area is more diverse?
4) Is Xfinity (Comcast) offered in both areas?
5) - Anything else you feel would help make this move smoother is greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your time and be well.

[crltn19]

(1) Based on multiple sources, Knoxville area has somewhat lower CoL compared to Chattanooga area. That number you provided used to be very doable in most urban/suburban neighborhoods but rents in Knox area have gone up quite a bit over the past few years so I'd say $1200 can possibly get you a smallish 3bd/2ba house in an average area with or without an attached garage.
(2) No state income tax here. Sales taxes can be slightly higher in TN compared to FL. Property taxes vary by county (and also whether you live within city/town limits) but overall East TN rates are among the lowest in this part of the country.
(3) Chattanooga area has higher Black/Hispanic population both in counts and %
(4) Xfinity is offered in most parts of Knox County and some of the surrounding counties (I have their bundle package and very pretty happy with their service). Not sure about Chattanooga / Hamilton County though. However, Chattanooga is known to some as the gig city as they rolled out first city wide gigabit network in the nation like 10 years ago.
(5) Please use the search function in both sub-forums as a lot of the same relocation related questions have been asked many times.

[fishingupnorth]

You might want to consider Cookeville. They have 1Gb internet in most areas and is a pretty nice college town without the big city drawbacks.