5 Reasons to Retire in Tennessee (and 1 Reason to Think Twice)

Tennessee’s overall cost of living is about 10 percent below the national average, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. The average home value statewide was just under $322,000 in April 2024, per Zillow, about 10 percent below the national average (and 20 percent lower than in Florida). Some markets popular with retirees, such as Chattanooga and Johnson City,  are cheaper still.

Merrick says his house in Fairfield Glade cost about as much as the sale price of the one he left in Navarre, a “little bedroom community” in the Florida Panhandle, but he estimates he’s only paying 50 percent to 60 percent as much for property taxes and auto and homeowners’ insurance.

2. Climate

Tennessee’s temperate climate is a big draw for many retirees. “We get a lot of people coming from the north just because of the weather here,” Britt says.

In Nashville, temperatures average 79.7 degrees in summer and 42.2 degrees in winter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Knoxville, in eastern Tennessee near the Great Smoky Mountains, is a degree or two lower, and Chattanooga, in the southeastern corner just over the Georgia line, a degree or two higher.

The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee at dusk.

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“We do enjoy a little bit of each of the four seasons and none of them are too uncomfortable,” McNamara says.

3. Outdoor activities

Straddling Tennessee and North Carolina, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular U.S. national park by far (13.3 million visitors in 2023, nearly triple the runner-up Grand Canyon), and with good reason. But there’s plenty to explore beyond the majestic Smokies, including 57 state parks and more than 60,000 miles of rivers, streams and creeks. Tennessee even has a grand canyon of its own: the Tennessee River Gorge, which cuts a scenic swath through the Cumberland Plateau.

“You go outside of major cities like Knoxville or Nashville or Memphis or Chattanooga, 30 minutes outside, you’re in the country,” says Merrick, who recently purchased a fifth-wheeler to better explore his adopted state’s parks. “That’s one of the big pluses about Tennessee.”

For retirees whose leisure plans include casting a lot of lines, there are 14 Bill Dance Signature Lakes, endorsed as prime fishing spots by the famed angler, TV host and lifelong Tennessean as part of a state government initiative to invest in fisheries and natural resources.

4. Music

Tennessee and music are synonymous. Nashville, the center of the country music universe, and Memphis, arguably the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll, represent not just the state’s deep musical roots but it’s ever-evolving music scene. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee has more working musicians and singers per capita than any state save Hawaii, and the Nashville region ranks second among metropolitan areas.

Beale Street in Memphis is a mecca for blues fans, with live music day and night at more than a dozen bars and clubs.

Andrea Morales/Bloomberg via Getty Images

With so many musicians, it follows that Tennessee has an abundance of venues, making it a living, breathing mecca for music lovers.

Nashville boasts more than 180 live music spots and is home to the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium and the famous Bluebird Café, where today’s open-mic up-and-comer might be tomorrow’s megastar.  Beale Street in downtown Memphis, known as the Home of the Blues, has live music day and night, and you can soak up the city’s stupendous musical legacy at Sun Studio, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and the Smithsonian-affiliated Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum. East Tennessee is closely associated with bluegrass and Appalachian folk music,  and sonic adventurers flock to Knoxville in early spring for the eclectic Big Ears Festival.

5. Friendly folks

Southern hospitality is alive and well in Tennessee, according to Merrick. “It’s a great culture up here,” he says of Cumberland County, where he lives. “People actually still wave at you while you’re driving down the road, and people actually do care about what’s going on. People try to watch after each other.”

“It’s a slow-paced lifestyle,” offers Britt. “Everybody in Nashville is friendly, neighborly. I think it’s just the nice southern living that attracts people.”

Visitors appear to agree, according to an informal survey by Big 7 Media, which produces digital content for the travel, food and hotel industries. When the company polled its social media audience on the friendliest states in the U.S., Tennessee came in second, behind only Minnesota.

And one reason to think twice

Because much of Tennessee is rural, obtaining high-quality health care can be tricky in parts of the state, especially for major medical needs. U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 state rankings place Tennessee 35th nationally in health care access, 25th in health care quality, 47th in public health and No. 42 for overall health care. Sixteen hospitals have closed statewide since 2010, with 13 of them in rural areas, according to the Tennessee Hospital Association.