North Carolina and Tennessee at a glance
North Carolina and Tennessee share a border, but a paycheck does not travel across it unchanged. A $60,000 salary leaves $25,905 a year after taxes and the four basics in North Carolina and $29,389 in Tennessee.
Tennessee comes out ahead by $3,485 a year ($290 a month). The calculation starts from the same gross pay in both states, subtracts federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, then each state's own income tax, and then the population-weighted cost of a one-bedroom rental, groceries, home energy and gasoline across 10,730,404 people in 100 counties in North Carolina and 7,066,383 people in 95 counties in Tennessee.
Taxes: what each paycheck loses
Federal income tax ($5,072) and FICA ($4,590) on $60,000 are the same on both sides of the border. Tennessee does not tax wages, while North Carolina takes $2,008 of a $60,000 salary in state income tax, so take-home pay is $2,008 higher in Tennessee.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $75,193 in North Carolina and $78,901 in Tennessee, a difference of $3,708. The gap widens with income because graduated state brackets take a growing share.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $1,282 a month in North Carolina and $1,196 in Tennessee, so Tennessee is $86 a month cheaper for housing. Food costs $3,436 a year in both, because the USDA Thrifty Food Plan is a national figure; home energy $2,138 and $1,733, and gasoline $1,472 and $1,426. Together the basics cost $22,426 a year in North Carolina and $20,949 in Tennessee.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $72,388 in North Carolina and $69,595 in Tennessee. Homeowners pay a median of $1,896 a year in property tax in North Carolina and $1,442 in Tennessee. Commuters travel 25.1 minutes each way on average in North Carolina and 25.7 in Tennessee.
Method
Taxes use the 2025 rules for a single filer with wage income only and the standard deduction. Housing and living costs are county figures from HUD (one-bedroom Fair Market Rent), the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and state energy prices from the Energy Information Administration, averaged across each state's counties and weighted by population, so large counties count more. Local income taxes are not included. Counties differ widely inside every state, so use the county pages for a specific place.