Nashville's Narrowing Affordability

Local musicians were able to afford 50 percent more of Nashville's for-sale housing stock in 2014 than they can now, according to a new study.

About 10.1 percent of the for-sale homes in Music City are affordable for the typical local musician, versus the 60 percent that a local computer engineer can afford, according to Redfin's analysis. “The things that have been attractive about Nashville at its core, like no state income tax and a convenient location at the intersection of three interstates, have been attractive for a long time,” says Matt Wiltshire, the director of the Nashville Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development. “But when country music crossed over to the mainstream about 10 years ago, Nashville became an acceptable place to move for a wider swath of people.”

The city’s $500 million commitment to affordable housing—along with a request for $250 million from the private sector—is aiming to help combat the housing affordability crisis in Nashville for all of its residents.

For the musicians that give Music City its name, housing affordability has drastically declined since March 2014, when half of for-sale homes were affordable on the average income for entertainers and performers. The portion of affordable homes has also fallen for Nashville residents who earn the median income, from 33.8 percent five years ago to just over 10 percent now.