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CityLedger

Nashville vs St. Louis

Metro-area medians — Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area vs St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Nashville comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.

Nashville and St. Louis cost about the same to live in, but Nashville households earn about 9% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Nashville.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Nashville, TN
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
$63,644
real value after local prices
St. Louis, MO
$58,705
take-home / yr · 22% to tax
$61,737
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Nashville leaves you about $1,907/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure
Nashville
St. Louis
Livability (CityLedger)
69/100
62/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
96.3
95.1
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$92,175
$85,898
Median household income
$88,800
$81,679
Median rent
$1,627/mo
$1,154/mo
Median home value
$449,300
$268,300
Unemployment
3.4%
3.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
43.3%
39.5%
Average commute
28.7 min
25.4 min
Air quality (median AQI)
51
55
Avg temperature
61°F
57°F

Choose Nashville for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median household income
  • + Unemployment
  • + Bachelor's degree or higher
  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Nashville profile →

Choose St. Louis for

  • + Median rent
  • + Median home value
  • + Average commute
Full St. Louis profile →

Nashville vs St. Louis — frequently asked

Is Nashville cheaper than St. Louis?
They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Nashville and St. Louis metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, Nashville or St. Louis?
Nashville has the higher median household income — $88,800 versus $81,679 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 9% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Nashville or St. Louis?
A paycheck stretches further in Nashville. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $92,175 there versus $85,898 in St. Louis.
Which has cheaper rent, Nashville or St. Louis?
St. Louis has cheaper rent — a median of $1,154/mo versus $1,627/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).