What is the cost of living in Chattanooga?

Chattanooga has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 91.5, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 76.5, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,390/month.

What is the median salary in Chattanooga?

The median salary in Chattanooga is $61,856 annually (mean: $65,341). Top occupations include Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.

How safe is Chattanooga?

The violent crime rate in the Chattanooga area is 602 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 2058 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Chattanooga?

The state of TN has 1,844 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 15.3:1. Charter schools make up 6.2% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Chattanooga?

Infant center-based childcare in the Chattanooga area averages $7,860 per year. Preschool averages $6,190/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Chattanooga a good place to relocate?

Chattanooga has a Life Score of 39.6/100 (F), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This places Chattanooga in the bottom decile of scored metros; compare individual dimensions to see where the biggest gaps are.

Where does Chattanooga sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Chattanooga ranks #334 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Chattanooga, TN-GA

LiveAbility 38.8/100 places Chattanooga #334 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

91.5
Cost index (US=100): $1,390
2BR rent / mo: $61,856
Median salary: 38.8
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Chattanooga ranks #334 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (38.8/100), with its strongest marks in cost of living and climate.

#334
of 387 US metros · Below median: 7,227,750
metro-area population: 602
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 1,844
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: safety (4/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Chattanooga ranks #334 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 91.5 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,390/mo, median salary $61,856; LiveAbility Score 38.8/100, strongest in cost of living and climate.

Signature: LiveAbility 38.8/100 places Chattanooga #334 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 91.5 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,390/mo.

LiveAbility 38.8/100 puts Chattanooga in the bottom third (#334 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Chattanooga area is 261,210.

Chattanooga vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

39 Top 87% higher than 13% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Chattanooga housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Chattanooga MSA; housing RPP 76.5 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,390/mo.

Studio

$1,211

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,263

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,390

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,734

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,853

/month

Chattanooga wages and employment

Chattanooga posts 261,210 total employment with median salary $61,856 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$61,856

Mean Salary

$65,341

Total Employment

261,210

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators	$45,330
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$27,140
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	$37,830
Retail Salespersons	$31,460
Registered Nurses	$79,770

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Chattanooga area from NCES.

Schools

1,844

Enrollment

994,264

Student:Teacher

15.3:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Chattanooga area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$7,860

per year

Toddler (Center)

$6,190

per year

Preschool (Center)

$6,190

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Chattanooga's composite Life Score is 39.6/100 (F), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

67/100

Strong

Wages

30/100

Weak

Rent

39/100

Below average

Crime

4/100

Bottom decile

Schools

49/100

Average

Childcare

69/100

Strong

Environment

19/100

Bottom decile

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Chattanooga ranks #334 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 38.8/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Cost of living (67/100)

Cost of living

67
Climate

55
Schools

51
Low hazard

40
Housing

39
Job market

30
Air quality

15
Safety

4

What this shows Chattanooga's strongest dimensions are cost of living and climate; its weakest among scored dims is safety at 4/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Chattanooga to

San Angelo San Antonio-New Braunfels San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles

Metros near Chattanooga on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Chattanooga on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Chattanooga cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Chattanooga wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Chattanooga?

Chattanooga runs a $61,856 median salary at a 91.5 cost index, ranking #334 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Chattanooga's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Chattanooga head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Chattanooga
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.