Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Franklin's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Franklin?
Your $100,000 in Franklin has the same purchasing power as $101,051 in the average US city. You'd need $1,051 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Franklin's cost index of 99, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Franklin usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: wage income stays untaxed at the state level, a higher-income labor market than the national norm, plus 4 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Wage income in Franklin isn't taxed at the state level. Tennessee is one of the few US states with no income tax, which is one of the reasons people relocating from high-tax states tend to land here in the first place.
Median household income in Franklin is $106,592, a step above the national median of about $75k. The local job market leans toward industries that pay better than average, and that shows up in the take-home for most working households here.
At about 2.6% unemployment, Franklin's labor market is running on the tight side. Easier to land a role, easier to negotiate, easier to leave one job for a better one — the practical things that matter when you're actually looking.
Franklin reports roughly 1,239 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
The average one-way commute in Franklin is about 25 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
63% of adults 25 and over in Franklin hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Franklin's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Franklin's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 35°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Franklin's winter average of about 35°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Franklin averages about 91°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Zone 9, give or take a half-zone. Franklin's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 9 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Franklin is at about 673 feet (205 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
By the numbers, yes. Franklin reports roughly 1,239 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
Roughly average. Franklin's cost-of-living index is 99, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Not really — Franklin is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 3 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 0 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $69,272 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Franklin runs about $1,785/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.