Cost of living in Nashville/ Tennessee in general? (Brentwood, Portland: sales, rent)

[LettheCowgirlsRock]

I hear the cost of living in Nashville is lower than some places, but I am curious as to where it is less expensive...gas, car insurance, food/groceries, utilities, etc...
I was here in July and talked to a few locals, and when asking one guy what it is like living in Nashville, he said it was " easy living". Just curious as to what he might have meant by that. What is minimum wage and if you do make minimum wage is it hard to survive? I do reception/admin type work here in Oregon and make $13.00/ hour which isn't much and I am wondering what the same job would possibly pay in Nashville and if I could survive bringing in only $1,500/1,700 a month??
Relocating sometime next year to Nashville and just want to know what I can expect roughly to live. Also any other info that is pertinent to moving here would be nice.

Thank you in advance!

[CountryGirl2b=]

There are lots of "cost of living comparison calculators" - just Google them. Will tell you if Nashville is more or less expensive than where you live now. It's cheaper than San Francisco but probably more than Little Rock? I'm guessing a typical admin job might pay less than $13 an hour (depends who you work for) and rent here is high - easily $800 minimum, possibly more by next year . . . You might want to consider a roommate situation.

[El Passeaux]

I would say the cost of living calculators are no longer accurate unless recently updated. Nashville is quite a bit more expensive than a few years ago. Supply and demand.

[N.Cal]

Originally Posted by El Passeaux

I would say the cost of living calculators are no longer accurate unless recently updated. Nashville is quite a bit more expensive than a few years ago. Supply and demand.

Just ran my numbers and it is way off. Especially if you want to live anywhere within 10 miles of downtown.

[UKWildcat1981]

Nashville isn't that pricey, you can probably do it. I live in Brentwood its a bit pricey here but most of the Nashville metro cost of living is lower than the national average.

[usamathman]

Never thought I would see the day where studios are going for $1200 and $1300 near downtown nashville.

I moved away in 2010 and am just now returning. The city is much more expensive than it used to be and will

only get more expensive. People are discovering that you can make a nice living here with the right salary.

Good and bad thing.

[septimus]

I think Nashville is middle of the road expensive. If you are coming form SF, Boston, NYC it may seem "cheap" but if you are coming from Atlanta, Dallas, etc not so much.

For us the biggest things were housing. twice as much house for $200k less than what we sold our old house, our car insurance dropped in 1/2 even though we added a 2d car and utilities were lower.

We did have to add a 2d car when we moved here though and flights to Europe are a lot more expensive.

[Drake744]

I don't know where in Oregon you're coming from but you probably won't think much of the COL here, especially if you're somewhere like Portland. It's getting higher because of supply and demand like someone said, but the fact still is that it's considerably cheaper than many places in the US. It's expensive compared to many southern metros but not really nationally.

[El Passeaux]

Its cheaper here but so is the pay, you have to keep that in mind. 13.00/hr in Portland might be 10.00/hr in Nashville. I have heard the stories of pay shock from nurses coming from California.

[GWoodle]

Food/groceries about the same anywhere

You may save a little on not having heavy winter clothing, spend it on summer wear.
Shop the sales tax free weekend to get best clothing deals

Gas $2.60-$2-17 & falling. May be below $2.00 by holidays?

TVA electric makes it cheaper, depends if NES or somebody else manages the wires.

don't know about nat gas or regular gas. May save some with shorter heating season vrs longer cooling season. Heat pump worth investing.

Water/sewer as a separate item, depends who provides.

High sales tax, no wage income tax, 6% Hall tax on investment income

Car insurance S/b cheaper, should be easy to check & compare zip codes.
$9.00 smog test fee, plate/sticker depends on county & if you get "special" plates.

The shock comes from higher prices for housing, with rents to match. After the election will be time for re appraisal & government could raise property tax. somebody has to pay for school, local government.