What Is the Cost of Living in Cordova, TN?
Cordova sits on the east side of the Memphis area, and most of it is inside Memphis city limits. Overall it costs less to live here than the national average, but a bit more than a typical Tennessee city once you add up housing, property taxes and utilities. If the numbers below have you thinking a sale makes more sense than another year of these costs, a cash home buyer in Cordova, TN can explain how a cash sale works and what it costs you to sell (nothing out of pocket).
See also: Is Cordova, TN a Good Place to Live?.
Housing costs: home values and rent
Housing is the biggest line item in Cordova's cost of living. The typical home value in Cordova is about $316,769, down 1.6% from a year earlier, according to Zillow's Cordova home value tracker. Renters see lower numbers but still pay more for more space: Apartments.com lists average rent in Cordova at $1,198 a month overall, $1,202 for a one-bedroom apartment, $1,390 for a two-bedroom, and $2,029 a month for a rented single-family house.
Property taxes and sales tax in the Memphis area
Tennessee taxes residential property at 25% of its appraised value, not the full market price. That is the assessment ratio the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury lists for "residential and farm" property. The county's 2026 tax rate is $2.702382 per $100 of assessed value, according to the county Trustee's office. Put those two numbers together and a home appraised at $300,000 has an assessed value of $75,000, which comes to roughly $2,027 a year in county property tax before any city portion, exemptions or freeze programs are applied.
Sales tax adds up too. Tennessee's state sales tax rate is 7%, and the local combined state-and-local rate reaches 9.75% once the county's 2.25% and, inside Memphis, the city's 0.5% are added in, per the Tennessee Department of Revenue and Avalara's published rate table. The offset: Tennessee has no state income tax on wages or salaries, according to the Tax Foundation, so a Cordova household keeps more of every paycheck than it would in a state that taxes wages.
Utilities and everyday costs
Electricity in Tennessee runs cheaper than the national average. The state's average residential rate is about 15 cents per kilowatt-hour against a 19-cent national average, according to EnergySage's rate comparison, updated August 2026. That is a real saving on a Memphis-area summer power bill, even though it is a statewide figure rather than a Cordova-specific one.
How Cordova's overall cost of living compares
Put housing, taxes and utilities together and Cordova (ZIP 38018) scores an 85.8 on BestPlaces' Cost of Living Index, about 14.2% below the U.S. average and about 4.6% above the Tennessee state average, ranking it 21st out of 362 Tennessee cities on cost of living. In plain terms: Cordova is still cheaper than most of the country, but it is not the cheapest ZIP code in the Memphis area, and rising home values and tax rates are part of why.
If those rising costs, an inherited house, a needed repair bill or just the hassle of listing are why you are reading this, we buy houses in Cordova and the rest of the Memphis area as-is, for cash, with no repairs, no commissions and no fees. See how it works and get a no-obligation cash offer.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cordova, TN expensive to live in?
Not compared to the rest of the country. Cordova's overall cost of living index is 85.8, meaning it runs about 14.2% below the U.S. average. It does run a bit above the Tennessee state average, about 4.6% higher, mostly because of housing costs.
How much are property taxes on a house in Cordova?
The county taxes at $2.702382 per $100 of assessed value for 2026, and Tennessee assesses a residential home at 25% of its appraised value. A home appraised at $300,000 would have an assessed value of $75,000, which works out to roughly $2,027 a year in county tax before exemptions.
Does Tennessee have a state income tax?
No. Tennessee does not tax wages or salaries at the state level, so paycheck income in Cordova is not reduced by a state income tax the way it would be in many other states.
