Moving from Chicago to Nashville: What Illinois Buyers Should Know Before They Land

Here's a stat that surprises people: more newcomers to Tennessee now come from Illinois than from California. Illinois accounts for roughly 21% of the state's inbound migration — the largest share of any state — and the bulk of those movers are leaving the Chicago area for Middle Tennessee.

After 22 years and 500+ transactions, we've helped a lot of Chicago families make this move. Some of it goes exactly how they expect. Some of it doesn't. This is the honest rundown — the tax math, the trade-offs, where Chicagoans tend to land, and one thing almost nobody thinks to ask about until after they arrive: the politics of where you're buying.

The Tax Math Is the Headline

This is usually what starts the conversation, so let's do the numbers.

Income tax

Illinois takes a flat 4.95% of your wages. Tennessee takes nothing. On a $150,000 household income, that's about $7,400 a year back in your pocket before you've changed anything else about your life.

Property tax

This is the bigger one. Illinois has the second-highest effective property tax rate in the country — around 1.9–2.1% of home value, and higher in many Cook County suburbs. Tennessee's effective rate runs roughly 0.5–0.7% depending on county and city. On a $600,000 home, that's the difference between roughly $12,000 a year and roughly $3,500–$4,000 a year. Over a decade of ownership, the gap pays for a car. A nice one.

The catch

Tennessee makes some of it back at the register. Our combined sales tax runs about 9.5–9.75% depending on where you are, and it applies to groceries. You'll notice it. But for most homeowners, sales tax doesn't come close to erasing what you save on income and property taxes. The math favors Tennessee for nearly every working household — and if you're retired, it's closer than you'd think, since Illinois doesn't tax retirement income. Run your own numbers before assuming.

What Actually Gets Better — and What You'll Miss

We'd rather you hear this from us than discover it in February... or July.

Better ✅

• Winters. It still gets cold here, but it's measured in weeks, not months. Spring shows up in March and means it.
• Space. Your housing dollar buys more square footage and more lot almost everywhere in Middle Tennessee than in Chicagoland — with the exception of Brentwood and Franklin, which have their own math (more below).
• Airport access. BNA is a manageable, growing airport, and if you land east of the city, you can be there in 15 minutes.
• No state income tax. Worth repeating.

What you'll miss

• Transit. There's no CTA equivalent. Nashville is a car city. WeGo buses exist, but almost everyone drives, and traffic on I-24 and I-65 at rush hour is real.
• The lakefront. Old Hickory and Percy Priest lakes are genuinely great — but they're recreation lakes, not Lake Michigan.
• Deep-dish and depth. Nashville's food scene has grown up fast and it's good. It is not Chicago's, and pretending otherwise would insult both cities.
• Summer. July and August are hot and humid. You trade February for August. Most transplants call it a win, but it's a trade.

Where Chicago Buyers Tend to Land

If it helps to translate: buyers coming from Naperville, Hinsdale, or the North Shore usually gravitate toward Williamson County. Buyers coming from Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, or Logan Square usually end up in-town — East Nashville, 12 South, Germantown. Lake-town people find their way to Old Hickory Lake. Here are the four suburbs Chicago buyers ask us about most.

Brentwood (Williamson County — mostly)

Brentwood is the Hinsdale of Middle Tennessee: one-acre lots, mature trees, and the area's most consistently strong schools through Williamson County Schools. Most homes trade well above $1M, and larger properties go well beyond that. Read our full Brentwood neighborhood guide for the details.

Franklin (Williamson County)

Franklin gives you what Brentwood doesn't: a real downtown. Main Street is a working, historic town center — restaurants, shops, festivals — surrounded by established neighborhoods and newer master-planned communities like Westhaven. Same well-regarded school district as Brentwood, generally lower price points, though most single-family buyers should still expect $700K and up, with plenty of inventory well above that. Our Franklin guide covers the neighborhoods street by street.

Hendersonville (Sumner County)

Hendersonville is the value play with a lake attached. It sits on Old Hickory Lake northeast of Nashville, with waterfront and lake-access neighborhoods at prices that would be unthinkable for water in Chicagoland. Most buyers land in the $450K–$700K range, with lakefront running higher. The commute downtown runs 25–40 minutes depending on where you are and when you leave. More in our Hendersonville guide.

Mount Juliet (Wilson County)

Mount Juliet has been one of the fastest-growing cities in Tennessee for years, and there's a logic to it: it's about 15 minutes from the airport, has strong retail at Providence Marketplace, sits near both Old Hickory and Percy Priest lakes, and Wilson County Schools has built some of the newest school facilities in the region to keep up with growth. Heavy new construction means more choices in the $450K–$650K range than the Williamson County suburbs can offer. For frequent flyers, no suburb beats it. Full breakdown in our Mount Juliet guide.

The Part Nobody Puts in the Brochure: Politics and Fit

We bring this up because out-of-state buyers increasingly ask — and because it's better to know before you buy than after.

The short version: Middle Tennessee's suburbs are strongly Republican, and Nashville itself is reliably Democratic. In the 2024 presidential election, the counties containing Brentwood, Franklin, Hendersonville, and Mount Juliet each broke roughly two-to-one Republican. Davidson County — Nashville — went roughly two-to-one the other way, and has for years.

None of that tells you whether you'll like your neighbors. It does tell you something about the general temperature — school board meetings, yard signs, local politics, the default assumptions at a backyard cookout.

If you lean conservative, you'll find the suburbs feel like home quickly. If you lean progressive and want to live somewhere that votes the way you do, in-town Nashville is where that exists in Middle Tennessee:

• East Nashville — the creative heart of the city; historic homes, independent restaurants, and the neighborhood most Wicker Park transplants pick first
• Inglewood — East Nashville's quieter next-door neighbor, with bigger lots and better prices
• 12 South — polished, high-demand, and close to everything
• Germantown — historic, dense, and the closest thing Nashville has to a true city neighborhood feel
• Most of West Nashville — Sylvan Park and The Nations especially
• Bellevue — more suburban in feel, still Davidson County, and more politically mixed than the outlying counties

Plenty of people happily cross these lines in both directions — there are progressive families in Franklin and conservative households in East Nashville, and nobody's checking voter registrations at the property line. But if political fit matters to you, county lines are the honest shorthand, and we'd rather tell you plainly than have you figure it out at your first HOA meeting.

Schools: The Question Behind Most of These Moves

A large share of Chicago families moving here are moving for schools, whether they say so up front or not. The quick orientation:

• Williamson County Schools (Brentwood, Franklin, Nolensville, Spring Hill) is the district that anchors the area's reputation — consistently the strongest ratings in the state.
• Sumner County Schools serves Hendersonville, and Wilson County Schools serves Mount Juliet — both solid, growing districts with newer facilities.
• Metro Nashville Public Schools (Davidson County) is a large urban district with real variation — some genuinely strong options, including magnets and standout zoned elementaries, alongside schools that need work. In-town buyers with kids should evaluate school-by-school, not district-by-district.
• And again: in Brentwood's 37027, the county line is the school line. Verify by address.

How the Move Itself Usually Goes

Chicago to Nashville is about 470 miles — a seven-hour drive down I-65, which makes this one of the easier long-distance moves to manage. Most of our Illinois clients make one or two scouting trips, and we handle a lot of the legwork in between: video walkthroughs with James on the ground, honest neighborhood assessments, and market data pulled straight from the MLS rather than national websites that lag weeks behind.

One practical note: Tennessee has no state income tax to withhold, but you'll want to establish Tennessee residency cleanly and understand the timing if you're selling in Illinois — your Illinois property tax bill runs a year behind, which surprises people at closing. Talk to your accountant before you list.

FAQs

Is it cheaper to live in Nashville than Chicago?

For most households, yes — primarily through taxes. No state income tax and property taxes at a quarter to a third of Illinois rates outweigh Tennessee's higher sales tax for nearly every working family. Home prices in desirable Nashville-area suburbs, though, are no longer "cheap" — Williamson County in particular rivals Chicago's premium suburbs.

Which Nashville suburb is most like Naperville?

Franklin is the closest match: strong schools, a real historic downtown, established neighborhoods, and family-driven demand. Brentwood compares better to Hinsdale or the North Shore — larger lots, higher prices, no commercial downtown.

Does Tennessee tax retirement income?

No. Tennessee has no state income tax on any income, including retirement distributions. Note that Illinois also exempts retirement income, so retirees see less of a tax gain from the move than working households do — the property tax savings is where retirees win.

Is Nashville conservative or liberal?

Nashville proper (Davidson County) votes reliably Democratic — roughly two-to-one in recent presidential elections. The surrounding suburban counties (Williamson, Sumner, Wilson, Rutherford) vote roughly two-to-one Republican. Buyers who care about political fit should think in terms of the county line, not the metro area.

How long is the drive from Chicago to Nashville?

About 470 miles, almost entirely on I-65 — roughly seven hours door to door.

James & Stephanie Crawford are the broker-owners of Nesting Realty, a boutique Nashville brokerage. Nashville natives with 22+ years of experience and 500+ closed transactions, they work with buyers and sellers across Davidson, Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford, Sumner, Cheatham, and Robertson counties — including relocation clients from Chicago and beyond. When you work with them, you work with them directly.