Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Jackson's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Jackson?
Your $100,000 in Jackson has the same purchasing power as $127,926 in the average US city. You'd need $27,926 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 Jackson's cost index of 78, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Jackson usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: a genuinely affordable place to land, wage income stays untaxed at the state level, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Cost of living lands at 78 on the composite index — about 22% under the US average. That's the kind of gap that shows up in the savings rate, not just the rent check. Median rent in town runs about $1,007/mo against a typical household income of $48,058, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Wage income in Jackson 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.
Jackson's air quality index averages about 44 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Jackson is about 17 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.
Reasons are pulled from Jackson'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. Jackson'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. Jackson'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 Jackson 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. Jackson'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.
Jackson sits at about 463 feet (141 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Higher than average. Jackson reports about 4,051 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Jackson's composite cost-of-living index is 78, roughly 22% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Mostly car-dependent. Jackson's Walk Score of 45/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest.
Roughly $54,719 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 Jackson runs about $1,007/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.