Memphis, Tennessee Cost Of Living

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A

Overall 19%

Goods & Services 11%

Housing 38%

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Memphis	Tennessee	National
Cost of living	81	89	100
Goods & Services	89	93	100
Groceries	91	94	100
Health care	83	91	100
Housing	62	80	100
Transportation	88	88	100
Utilities	87	92	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Memphis is 9% lower than the Tennessee average
The cost of living in Memphis is 19% lower than the national average
Memphis housing is 38% lower than the national average
Tennessee general sales tax is 37% higher than the national average
Tennessee state income tax is 59% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$53,933	$4,494	$1,258	$1,618
Renters	$26,343	$2,195	$615	$790

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Memphis is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Memphis has a median income of about $53,933 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,258 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $26,343. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $615 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

Tennessee Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Tennessee	7%	9.75%

Tennessee Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Tennessee	1%	1%

Goods & Services

Item	Memphis	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$16.53	$20.27	18.4%
Beauty Salon	$41.00	$40.39	1.5%
Toothpaste	$1.80	$2.36	23.8%
Shampoo	$0.93	$1.08	13.6%
Movie	$12.00	$10.99	9.2%
Bowling	$15.33	$15.49	1.0%

Groceries

Item	Memphis	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.09	$4.30	28.2%
Fried Chicken	$1.01	$1.40	27.6%
Milk	$1.90	$2.20	13.9%
Potatoes	$3.64	$3.22	13.1%
Pizza	$10.06	$10.74	6.3%
Beer	$9.45	$9.60	1.6%

Health Care

Item	Memphis	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$75.56	$109.73	31.1%
Doctor	$89.81	$118.34	24.1%
Dentist	$82.07	$100.94	18.7%
Ibuprofen	$9.03	$9.93	9.1%
Lipitor	$467.83	$469.53	0.4%

Housing

Item	Memphis	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$93,700.00	$184,700.00	49.3%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$907.90	$1,229.62	26.2%
Apartment Rent	$842.00	$949.00	11.3%

Transportation

Item	Memphis	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.42	$2.71	10.8%
Tire Balancing	$45.09	$51.86	13.1%

Utilities

Item	Memphis	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$131.03	$170.84	23.3%
Phone	$189.02	$187.18	1.0%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Jericho, AR	96	89	11.4%
Sunset, AR	168	71	29.1%
Edmondson, AR	266	76	24.2%
West Memphis, AR	25,411	78	22.2%
Horn Lake, MS	26,785	82	18.0%
Memphis, TN	655,857	81	19.4%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Boston, MA	658,279	146	46.1%
Washington, DC	659,009	151	50.5%
Denver, CO	663,303	116	15.7%
Nashville, TN	643,771	96	4.2%
Seattle, WA	668,849	157	56.5%
Memphis, TN	655,857	81	19.4%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.