Nashvilleculture & etiquette

The Hall tax on interest and dividends was fully repealed on 1 January 2021, so Tennessee taxes no personal income of any kind, including investment income. That is a real difference from the pre-2021 position that older guides still describe. The trade is sales tax: 7% state plus 2.75% local in Davidson County gives 9.75%, among the highest combined rates in the country, and unusually it applies to groceries too, at a reduced state rate. If you spend most of what you earn, Tennessee's tax system is less generous to you than the headline suggests.

Nashville's Urban Services District rate is $2.814 per $100 — but Tennessee assesses residential property at 25% of its appraised value, not 100%. A $400,000 house is assessed at $100,000, so the bill is around $2,800, roughly 0.7% of market value. That is a third of what the same house would pay in Dallas or Houston. Note there is no general homestead exemption in Tennessee; the relief programmes are for people over 65, disabled homeowners and veterans.

New residents must obtain a Tennessee driver licence within 30 days. Tennessee waives testing only where it holds a reciprocity agreement with your country — France, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan are the commonly cited ones — and even then the waiver is generally of the road skills test only, with the vision screening and written knowledge test still required. This is a narrower deal than Texas's outright waiver, so confirm the current position with a Driver Services Center before you plan around it.

TennCare covers children, pregnant women, some parents at very low incomes and people with disabilities. A working-age adult without children is essentially ineligible however low the income, which creates the same coverage gap that exists in Texas. Tennessee uses the federal HealthCare.gov rather than running its own exchange. The irony is thick — Nashville is the headquarters city of the American hospital industry — but it does not help you. If a job offer here excludes health insurance, price the alternative before accepting.

The March 2020 tornado crossed East Nashville after midnight and killed people in their beds; the December 2023 outbreak hit north Nashville. The Southeast has a higher share of night-time and rain-wrapped tornadoes than the classic Plains tornado alley, which is exactly why fatality rates here are worse. Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts, keep a battery weather radio, and know before you sign a lease whether the building has an interior room or basement.

Nashville was among the fastest-rising rental markets in the country between 2021 and 2023, then delivered one of the largest apartment pipelines relative to its size. The result is that asking rents flattened and concessions returned — free months and waived fees are common in the new Gulch, Wedgewood-Houston and East Nashville buildings. Do not accept the advertised number without asking what else is available.