Florida vs Tennessee: Cost of Living, Taxes, Rent and Safety Compared
Weighing a move between Florida and Tennessee? Here’s how they compare on the numbers that decide most moves, from the same public data Locustep uses to rank all 50 states.
Shaded cells are the lower-cost, higher-income or lower-risk figure. Indexes: U.S. average = 100.
What it means for your budget
Rent alone: moving from Florida to Tennessee changes a typical two-bedroom rent by −$581 a month (−$6,972 a year); the move the other way flips the sign. Taxes, pay, insurance and the move itself shift too, and how much depends on your income, your household and the city you pick.
That’s exactly what Locustep’s Net-Impact Report works out: your take-home pay after state and local taxes in both places, rent or buy for your budget, insurance and moving costs, and the month the move pays for itself.
Which state fits you better?
On Locustep’s directional scores, Florida leads on schools and airport access. Which of those matters depends entirely on you.
Where people look in each state
Florida
Miami
$2,564/mo two-bedroom
Realistically, Miami is a hot, humid, intensely international city where Spanish is as useful as English and the social scene runs late. Expect world-class food and nightlife, brutal traffic, hurricane season, and housing costs that badly outpace local wages.
Orlando
$1,959/mo two-bedroom
Orlando is a sprawling, car-dependent service-and-tourism economy built around the theme parks, with a fast-growing tech and simulation sector alongside it. Cheap by big-metro standards, relentlessly hot and rainy in summer, and light on walkable neighbourhoods outside a few pockets.
Tampa
$1,917/mo two-bedroom
Tampa is the most balanced of Florida's big metros — real jobs in finance, healthcare and shipping, a genuine downtown, and beaches within half an hour. Traffic and insurance costs are rising fast, and flood exposure is a serious line item.
Nashville is a booming Southern city with a music industry, a huge healthcare sector and a tourism district that locals mostly avoid. Growth has been explosive, housing costs have followed, and the traffic infrastructure has not kept up.
Memphis
$1,301/mo two-bedroom
Memphis is a Mississippi River city with extraordinary musical heritage, world-class barbecue and the FedEx hub. Genuinely cheap housing, a serious violent-crime problem in parts of the city, and a grittier, less polished feel than Nashville.
Knoxville
$1,475/mo two-bedroom
Knoxville is an affordable university city at the doorstep of the Great Smoky Mountains, with a walkable downtown square and a strong outdoor scene. Quieter than Nashville, cheaper than Asheville, and increasingly popular with remote workers.
On rent, Tennessee is cheaper: a typical two-bedroom is $1,381 a month against $1,962 (HUD FY2027). Everyday costs, housing excluded, index at 100.1 in Florida and 95.6 in Tennessee (U.S. = 100). Whether you come out ahead also depends on your pay and taxes in each state.
Which has lower taxes, Florida or Tennessee?
Tennessee. A married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 3.8% of it in state and local taxes, against 4.7% in Florida (Locustep estimate). Neither taxes wage income.
Is Florida safer than Tennessee?
By violent crime, Florida is lower: 267.1 per 100,000 residents against 592.3 (FBI, 2024). On natural hazards, FEMA puts Florida at the 76th percentile and Tennessee at the 38th (lower is safer).
Which has better weather, Florida or Tennessee?
It depends what you want. Winter afternoons average 73°F in Orlando and 52°F in Nashville; summer afternoons 91°F and 90°F (NOAA 1991–2020). Florida: hot & humid, subtropical. Tennessee: hot & humid, subtropical.