Moving from New York to Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee: the 2026 guide

The short version

• No state or city income tax on wages. A married couple in New York City with $500,000 of taxable income owes about $53,405 in state and city income tax. In Tennessee, that line is zero.
• Property tax is a different conversation. A Franklin home appraised at $1 million carries about $3,990 a year at 2026 rates. In Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties, the median bill is $10,000 or more, the highest figure the Census Bureau reports.
• Nashville costs less than Brooklyn. The median listing price in Davidson County, which includes Nashville, was $525,000 in September 2026. In Brooklyn it was $808,033.
• Schools are a draw. Williamson County Schools posted the highest overall TCAP proficiency of any Tennessee district for 2025 to 2026, at 73.9 percent.

Income tax: what goes away

Tennessee does not tax wages. The state constitution bars a tax on payroll or earned income, and the Hall tax on interest and dividends ended for tax periods beginning January 1, 2021.

New York taxes income at rates from 4 percent to 10.9 percent, and New York City adds its own tax of up to 3.876 percent. There is a catch most people miss. Once your income passes certain levels, New York takes back the benefit of its lower brackets, so your top state rate ends up applying to every dollar, not only the last ones.

Here is what the 2025 rate schedules produce for a married couple filing jointly, before credits:

If you live outside the city, only the state column applies.

One more thing to plan for. New York audits people who change their residency. If you keep a home there and spend more than 183 days in the state, you can still be taxed as a resident. Keep a record of where you spend your time, and map out the move with your CPA before you file.

Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2025 Form IT 201 instructions, New York State and New York City tax rate schedules and tax computation for income over $107,650; New York Tax Law Section 605(b); Tennessee Department of Revenue, Hall Income Tax. Figures assume New York adjusted gross income equal to taxable income plus the $16,050 standard deduction. Your situation will differ.

What your money buys

Median listing prices from Realtor.com, as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis:

A county median blends apartments, townhomes, and houses, so read it as the center of a market, not the price of the home you want. The useful comparison is what your budget buys on a specific street. That is the conversation I would start with.

Source: Realtor.com Residential Data via FRED, series MEDLISPRI, read October 12, 2026.

Property tax

Tennessee taxes a home on 25 percent of its appraised value, at a rate set per $100 of that assessed amount. Your bill combines the county rate and, inside a city, the city rate. Addresses inside the Franklin Special School District add that district's levy.

In the New York suburbs the numbers run the other way. In Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, and Putnam counties, the median property tax bill is $10,000 or more. That is the highest figure the Census Bureau reports, so the real medians are higher still.

Here is what the 2026 Tennessee rates produce on a home appraised at $1 million:

The math: $1,000,000 appraised, times 25 percent, is $250,000 assessed, times the rate per $100. Appraised values can differ from your purchase price, and the exact bill depends on the parcel.

Sources: Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury (25 percent residential assessment); Williamson County Commission, FY 2026 to 2027 budget ($1.30); City of Franklin, FY 2026 to 2027 budget ($0.296); City of Brentwood ($0.19); Metro Council BL2026 1378, June 16, 2026 ($2.814); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024, table B25103.

Schools

Williamson County Schools serves Brentwood, unincorporated areas such as Leiper's Fork, and Franklin addresses outside the Franklin Special School District. For 2025 to 2026, it posted the highest overall TCAP proficiency of any district in Tennessee, at 73.9 percent. The Franklin Special School District runs eight schools through eighth grade in much of the city of Franklin, and its students continue to Williamson County Schools high schools.

In Nashville, Metro Nashville Public Schools serves all of Davidson County. The county also has long established independent schools, including Montgomery Bell Academy, Harpeth Hall, Ensworth, University School of Nashville, and Father Ryan, each with its own admissions process.

School zoning is set by address and can change, so confirm it with the district for any specific home.

Sources: Tennessee Department of Education TCAP district results, July 2026; Williamson County Schools; Franklin Special School District; Metro Nashville Public Schools; school websites.

Where to start looking

A few ways to translate how you live now:

• If you love an old block and dinner on foot: Germantown, on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979, with homes from the 1840s through the 1920s. Or East Nashville, where Edgefield became the city's first historic zoning district in 1978.
• If you want a neighborhood street close to downtown: 12 South, around Sevier Park, or Hillsboro Village, near Vanderbilt.
• If you are trading a commute for more room: Brentwood, about 10 miles south of Nashville, with larger lots and more than 1,000 acres of parks.
• If you want a real Main Street: Downtown Franklin, with brick sidewalks and Victorian storefronts, about 17 miles south of the city.
• If you want land and quiet: Leiper's Fork, a village southwest of Franklin set in rolling farmland.

Read the full guides to Nashville, Franklin, and Brentwood for more.

How to buy well from New York

1. Choose the area before the house. Tell me how you live now and what you want more of, and I will narrow the map to two or three places worth your time.
2. Make one trip count. Two or three days, built around your short list, your office, and the schools that matter to you.
3. Tour the rest on live video. Homes that come to market after you fly home can be walked through on a video call.
4. Line up financing early. Clients have access to a private lending partner on my team for jumbo, bridge, and buy before you sell financing, coordinated in one process.
5. Let the closing fit your move. I work with the title company so signing and timing follow your schedule, including the sale of your New York home.

Questions I hear most