You might think Tennessee cities are all about high-end country music stars and expensive real estate. But let’s clear up that misconception.
Many of the cities in Tennessee offer a low cost of living, making them some of the most affordable places around.
From the vibrant streets of Nashville to the soulful corners of Memphis, the Volunteer State offers an array of cheap places to live that won’t have you breaking your piggy bank.
Our methodology for identifying Tennessee’s cheapest places to live is straightforward. We use Saturday Night Science and Census data to consider multiple factors, including median home prices, average rent costs, and incomes. After comparing 100 cities, we arrived at this affordable list.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | FAQs | Summary
The 10 most affordable places to live in Tennessee
What is the most affordable city in Tennessee for 2026? The most affordable city in Tennessee is Brownsville.
Now grab yourself a slice of pecan pie and some Tennessee Whiskey, and read on to learn more about the cheapest places to live in Tennessee.
Check out some more reading about Tennessee and the cheapest places in the country:
The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Tennessee For 2026
/10
Population: 9,622
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 83
Median Income: $43,494
Median Home Price: $163,990
Median Rent: $767
Another Memphis suburb, Brownsville ranks as the cheapest place in the state. It’s an hour or so north of Memphis, halfway to Nashville.
The overall cost of living index of 83 includes low index values for utilities, services, and healthcare. The Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge provides affordable outdoor fun for the family.
More on Brownsville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 7,625
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 83
Median Income: $49,719
Median Home Price: $264,804
Median Rent: $848
Dayton, located in the heart of Tennessee, is a great place to call home without breaking the bank. The city has a median home value of $264,804 and a remarkably low median rent.
Dayton is a small manufacturing center with a diverse industrial base, including companies involved in furniture, clothing, and automobile parts. The city is also known for hosting major bass fishing tournaments at Chickamauga Lake and is home to educational institutions such as Bryan College and Chattanooga State Community College.
More on Dayton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 7,787
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 84
Median Income: $52,917
Median Home Price: $155,460
Median Rent: $742
Humboldt, north of I-40 near Jackson, ranks as the third most affordable city with living costs 10.6% below the state average and average home prices ranking fourth lowest in the state. A typical home in Humboldt costs approximately $155,460.
Renters benefit from Humboldt’s $52,917 average income to with $742 average rent.
More on Humboldt: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
I live outside the city limits of Humboldt Tennessee before this I lived in Humboldt all my life. I don’t know where you get your info but it is wrong.
/10
Population: 7,658
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 84
Median Income: $37,432
Median Home Price: $140,000
Median Rent: $800
More on Ripley: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 6,411
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 84
Median Income: $45,938
Median Home Price: $177,751
Median Rent: $781
Henderson is a city of 6,411 located a half-hour southeast of Jackson. Freed-Hartman University is an anchor of the Henderson community, with about 2,000 students in total.
The median rent in Henderson is $781, while a home will only set you back around $177,751. Not too shabby for a median household income of $45,938.
Nature-lovers don’t have to spend a dime to have a good time in Henderson because the gorgeous Chickasaw State Park is right in your backyard. Besides hiking and camping, you can also rent rowboats and pedal boats for the charming Lake Placid.
Henderson is also incredibly safe, with an overall crime rate 30% below the statewide average. Additionally, the cost of living in Henderson is cheap, with housing costs 21% lower than your typical Tennessee city.
More on Henderson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 13,844
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 85
Median Income: $47,179
Median Home Price: $255,402
Median Rent: $791
More on Mcminnville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 11,844
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 85
Median Income: $42,343
Median Home Price: $240,471
Median Rent: $775
Lawrenceburg claimed the seventh place on our list of the cheapest cities in Tennessee. Located in the southern region of the state, its low $240,471 average home price and competitive $775 average rent rank 25th and 19th respectively within Tennessee.
The city’s overall cost of living at 85 falls below the national and state average. Shiloh National Military Park is near Lawrenceburg for free fun to keep your wallet full.
More on Lawrenceburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
I’m mighty proud to be from Lawrenceburg, The Dimple of the Universe. Best place in Tennessee. And by the way, those who don’t know where Hohenwald is…. it’s only about an hour away. Pulaski is maybe 20 minutes away. One more thing….. don’t mess with us!
/10
Population: 10,982
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 85
Median Income: $50,870
Median Home Price: $167,472
Median Rent: $739
You might want to have a job before you choose the eighth most affordable place to live in Tennessee, Union City. The unemployment rate here is way above the national average.
But, don’t let this scare you. You’d be doing yourself a favor if you moved to the UC because this city has a lot to offer. Discovery Park of America is located here and some of the best Tennessee BBQ at Bad Bob’s BBQ.
More on Union City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 7,273
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 85
Median Income: $37,581
Median Home Price: $161,646
Median Rent: $696
La Follette, located in Tennessee, is a city that offers an affordable cost of living for its residents. With a median home value of $161,646 and a median rent of $696, La Follette provides reasonable housing options for those looking to settle down.
LaFollette is a vibrant city that seamlessly blends growth and modern amenities with its small-town charm. LaFollette provides a delightful mix of mountainous landscapes, a nearby lake, and a forty-five-minute commute to Knoxville. Whether you’re a visitor or a potential resident, LaFollette welcomes you to experience its unique appeal and hopes you’ll choose to make it your home.
More on La Follette: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 6,090
Overall Cost Of Living Index: 85
Median Income: $44,653
Median Home Price: $239,088
Median Rent: $763
Harriman, located in eastern Tennessee 45 minutes from Knoxville, is the tenth cheapest city in Tennessee with a cost of living index at 85. The city’s 6,090 residents appreciate a housing market with average costs 2% below the state average.
The TVA Wetland Viewing Area and Trails and Kingston City Park offer free things to do on the weekends.
More on Harriman: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Cheapest places to live in Tennessee FAQs
The county in Tennessee with the lowest cost of living is Carroll County. The average living wage in Carroll County is $73,333 according to MIT data. Carroll County has the lowest cost of living because it has relatively less expensive childcare and housing costs compared to Tennessee as a whole. Childcare costs $10,572 a year in Carroll County for two children compared to the Tennessee average of $12,473. Housing costs, defined as a blend of the average rent and average mortgage payment, are $7,956 per year in Carroll County compared to $10,853 on average in Tennessee.
The cost of living in Tennessee is 12.2% lower than the US average. According to MIT, the required living wage for a family of four with two working parents in Tennessee is $78,800 vs the national average for a family of four with two working parents of $89,744. The median income of a Tennessee household is $54,833.
The cheapest housing market in Tennessee is Humboldt. The average home value in Humboldt is $84,600, the lowest in the state. The average home value in Tennessee is $177,600, almost 2.1 times higher than Humboldt.
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The county in Tennessee with the lowest cost of living is Carroll County. The average living wage in Carroll County is $73,333 according to MIT data. Carroll County has the lowest cost of living because it has relatively less expensive childcare and housing costs compared to Tennessee as a whole. Childcare costs $10,572 a year in Carroll County for two children compared to the Tennessee average of $12,473. Housing costs, defined as a blend of the average rent and average mortgage payment, are $7,956 per year in Carroll County compared to $10,853 on average in Tennessee.
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The cost of living in Tennessee is 12.2% lower than the US average. According to MIT, the required living wage for a family of four with two working parents in Tennessee is $78,800 vs the national average for a family of four with two working parents of $89,744. The median income of a Tennessee household is $54,833.
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The cheapest housing market in Tennessee is Humboldt. The average home value in Humboldt is $84,600, the lowest in the state. The average home value in Tennessee is $177,600, almost 2.1 times higher than Humboldt.
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Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the Volunteer State for 2026
Determining affordability for places in Tennessee boils down to how much it costs to live here.
You need to understand your costs relative to what people in the rest of the state are paying.
With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 for Tennessee using Saturday Night Science. We indexed the cost of living statistics across the following categories:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Services
- Groceries
- Healthcare
- Utilities
These are then weighted together to produce an overall cost of living index where 100 is the United States average. Anything below 100 is relatively affordable. Anything over 100 is relatively expensive.
We applied the biggest weight to housing as it typically accounts for 25% or more of your budget. Additionally, housing costs are the highest variant cost across a state. We then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in Tennessee to figure out which is the least expensive.
The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 100 places in Tennessee that have more than 5,000 people from least expensive to most expensive. Any ties went to the larger city.
The place in Tennessee with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Brownsville.
We updated this article for 2026. This report reflects our eleventh time ranking the cheapest places to live in Tennessee.
Tennessee Affordabilility Summary
This is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in Tennessee for 2026, if you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in Tennessee.
The cheapest cities in Tennessee are Brownsville, Dayton, Humboldt, Ripley, Henderson, McMinnville, Lawrenceburg, Union City, La Follette, and Harriman.
Here’s a look at the most expensive cities in Tennessee according to the data:
- Brentwood
- Nolensville
- Thompson’s Station
For more Tennessee reading, check out:
Cheapest Places To Live In Tennessee
| Rank | City | Population | Cost Of Living Index | Median Income | Home Prices | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsville | 9,622 | 83 | $43,494 | $163,990 | $767 |
| 2 | Dayton | 7,625 | 83 | $49,719 | $264,804 | $848 |
| 3 | Humboldt | 7,787 | 84 | $52,917 | $155,460 | $742 |
| 4 | Ripley | 7,658 | 84 | $37,432 | $140,000 | $800 |
| 5 | Henderson | 6,411 | 84 | $45,938 | $177,751 | $781 |
| 6 | McMinnville | 13,844 | 85 | $47,179 | $255,402 | $791 |
| 7 | Lawrenceburg | 11,844 | 85 | $42,343 | $240,471 | $775 |
| 8 | Union City | 10,982 | 85 | $50,870 | $167,472 | $739 |
| 9 | La Follette | 7,273 | 85 | $37,581 | $161,646 | $696 |
| 10 | Harriman | 6,090 | 85 | $44,653 | $239,088 | $763 |
| 11 | Rockwood | 5,566 | 85 | $47,791 | $230,191 | $774 |
| 12 | Milan | 8,244 | 87 | $43,886 | $181,685 | $805 |
| 13 | Lexington | 7,962 | 87 | $49,057 | $216,845 | $720 |
| 14 | Savannah | 7,412 | 87 | $39,712 | $196,053 | $758 |
| 15 | Newport | 6,881 | 87 | $31,250 | $227,026 | $720 |
| 16 | Sweetwater | 6,532 | 87 | $45,451 | $256,822 | $619 |
| 17 | Erwin | 5,988 | 87 | $47,487 | $223,110 | $614 |
| 18 | McKenzie | 5,631 | 87 | $37,236 | $189,717 | $663 |
| 19 | Bolivar | 5,144 | 87 | $39,028 | $147,014 | $808 |
| 20 | Martin | 10,915 | 88 | $43,381 | $214,360 | $859 |
| 21 | Paris | 10,338 | 88 | $41,012 | $213,853 | $780 |
| 22 | Pulaski | 8,285 | 88 | $48,538 | $250,196 | $835 |
| 23 | Dunlap | 5,678 | 88 | $45,589 | $273,218 | $868 |
| 24 | Madisonville | 5,241 | 88 | $39,878 | $286,953 | $726 |
| 25 | Dyersburg | 15,979 | 89 | $52,064 | $165,486 | $782 |
| 26 | Elizabethton | 14,374 | 89 | $46,975 | $229,441 | $740 |
| 27 | Fayetteville | 7,057 | 89 | $49,223 | $254,902 | $779 |
| 28 | Lewisburg | 12,861 | 90 | $48,341 | $299,243 | $872 |
| 29 | Millington | 11,289 | 90 | $49,979 | $238,392 | $1,111 |
| 30 | Covington | 8,587 | 90 | $42,254 | $208,118 | $933 |
| 31 | Smithville | 5,288 | 90 | $33,192 | $285,424 | $740 |
| 32 | Knoxville | 195,185 | 91 | $54,039 | $369,216 | $1,191 |
| 33 | Morristown | 31,527 | 91 | $47,917 | $266,072 | $882 |
| 34 | Jefferson City | 8,579 | 91 | $60,638 | $304,011 | $851 |
| 35 | Church Hill | 7,139 | 91 | $65,526 | $261,208 | $1,019 |
| 36 | Lafayette | 5,727 | 91 | $51,736 | $269,410 | $896 |
| 37 | Jackson | 68,435 | 92 | $53,032 | $227,077 | $1,145 |
| 38 | East Ridge | 22,070 | 92 | $62,247 | $257,872 | $1,147 |
| 39 | Greeneville | 15,646 | 92 | $49,889 | $248,040 | $650 |
| 40 | Winchester | 9,799 | 92 | $62,782 | $359,609 | $974 |
| 41 | Memphis | 618,980 | 93 | $51,736 | $144,710 | $1,181 |
| 42 | Kingsport | 56,262 | 93 | $52,490 | $254,341 | $907 |
| 43 | Bristol | 27,636 | 93 | $58,162 | $234,603 | $842 |
| 44 | Tullahoma | 21,103 | 93 | $60,979 | $293,828 | $886 |
| 45 | Portland | 13,449 | 93 | $72,647 | $332,793 | $1,141 |
| 46 | Manchester | 12,944 | 93 | $57,500 | $325,769 | $978 |
| 47 | Alcoa | 12,222 | 93 | $65,714 | $314,717 | $1,282 |
| 48 | Red Bank | 12,010 | 93 | $63,983 | $307,145 | $1,283 |
| 49 | Lenoir City | 11,110 | 93 | $67,259 | $411,983 | $932 |
| 50 | Cleveland | 48,829 | 94 | $58,559 | $311,237 | $1,034 |
| 51 | Columbia | 45,441 | 94 | $63,719 | $374,475 | $1,197 |
| 52 | Shelbyville | 24,661 | 94 | $55,073 | $313,350 | $1,056 |
| 53 | Springfield | 19,255 | 94 | $59,465 | $331,463 | $1,139 |
| 54 | Athens | 14,471 | 94 | $53,929 | $260,344 | $846 |
| 55 | Crossville | 12,428 | 94 | $48,802 | $304,996 | $815 |
| 56 | Clinton | 10,239 | 94 | $68,882 | $332,660 | $962 |
| 57 | Mount Carmel | 5,472 | 94 | $68,866 | $262,491 | $643 |
| 58 | Cookeville | 36,088 | 95 | $51,375 | $320,761 | $917 |
| 59 | Oak Ridge | 32,693 | 95 | $72,311 | $322,989 | $1,131 |
| 60 | Dickson | 16,424 | 95 | $69,678 | $344,966 | $1,063 |
| 61 | Soddy-Daisy | 13,231 | 95 | $75,113 | $359,449 | $1,047 |
| 62 | Kingston | 6,224 | 95 | $71,675 | $329,855 | $716 |
| 63 | Pigeon Forge | 6,375 | 96 | $53,261 | $423,693 | $1,053 |
| 64 | Jonesborough | 6,232 | 96 | $74,015 | $334,164 | $1,129 |
| 65 | Clarksville | 176,456 | 97 | $69,303 | $318,205 | $1,307 |
| 66 | Johnson City | 72,222 | 97 | $57,254 | $292,484 | $1,023 |
| 67 | Ashland City | 5,424 | 97 | $79,231 | $349,646 | $1,336 |
| 68 | Medina | 5,407 | 97 | $107,807 | $320,514 | $1,206 |
| 69 | Chattanooga | 185,783 | 99 | $64,523 | $319,578 | $1,256 |
| 70 | La Vergne | 40,243 | 100 | $81,313 | $346,621 | $1,805 |
| 71 | Sevierville | 18,397 | 100 | $52,421 | $417,023 | $1,081 |
| 72 | Maryville | 32,392 | 101 | $81,963 | $390,045 | $1,157 |
| 73 | Bartlett | 56,876 | 102 | $102,070 | $321,266 | $1,638 |
| 74 | Munford | 6,588 | 102 | $89,531 | $287,684 | $1,176 |
| 75 | Millersville | 5,836 | 102 | $71,789 | $360,650 | $1,475 |
| 76 | Collegedale | 11,330 | 103 | $70,246 | $418,364 | $1,581 |
| 77 | Atoka | 10,385 | 103 | $89,663 | $350,767 | $1,237 |
| 78 | Oakland | 9,979 | 103 | $97,798 | $353,491 | $1,992 |
| 79 | Greenbrier | 6,971 | 103 | $85,174 | $382,696 | $1,212 |
| 80 | Smyrna | 56,692 | 104 | $81,926 | $403,723 | $1,461 |
| 81 | Gallatin | 48,532 | 105 | $77,518 | $435,263 | $1,395 |
| 82 | White House | 14,631 | 106 | $90,019 | $388,292 | $1,426 |
| 83 | Pleasant View | 5,276 | 106 | $109,213 | $416,777 | $1,802 |
| 84 | Goodlettsville | 17,597 | 107 | $70,758 | $389,925 | $1,385 |
| 85 | Murfreesboro | 161,445 | 109 | $80,108 | $426,291 | $1,481 |
| 86 | Fairview | 10,009 | 109 | $91,131 | $560,109 | $1,301 |
| 87 | Hendersonville | 63,091 | 111 | $97,200 | $521,094 | $1,653 |
| 88 | Lebanon | 44,788 | 111 | $72,848 | $443,605 | $1,306 |
| 89 | Lakeland | 14,192 | 113 | $116,250 | $445,695 | $1,755 |
| 90 | Mount Juliet | 42,073 | 114 | $107,068 | $562,744 | $2,011 |
| 91 | Arlington | 15,205 | 115 | $135,105 | $409,249 | $2,164 |
| 92 | Spring Hill | 55,765 | 117 | $112,013 | $523,264 | $1,844 |
| 93 | Collierville | 51,515 | 118 | $138,598 | $509,893 | $1,691 |
| 94 | Germantown | 40,673 | 121 | $149,920 | $485,879 | $1,816 |
| 95 | Farragut | 24,634 | 123 | $142,093 | $688,600 | $1,966 |
| 96 | Signal Mountain | 8,860 | 125 | $141,008 | $623,274 | $1,852 |
| 97 | Franklin | 87,133 | 134 | $119,528 | $922,855 | $1,923 |
| 98 | Thompson’s Station | 8,294 | 136 | $132,647 | $815,216 | $2,088 |
| 99 | Nolensville | 15,074 | 144 | $177,148 | $836,735 | $2,454 |
| 100 | Brentwood | 45,556 | 164 | $182,088 | $1,393,273 | $2,825 |