Clarksville vs Fayetteville
Metro-area medians — Clarksville, TN-KY Metro Area vs Fayetteville, NC Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Clarksville comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.
Clarksville and Fayetteville cost about the same to live in, but Clarksville households earn about 18% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Clarksville.
Their widest everyday difference: Clarksville has the tighter job market — 4.7% unemployment versus 6%.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you, Clarksville leaves you about $3,632/yr better off after tax and local prices.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
Choose Clarksville for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Median rent
- + Unemployment
- + Air quality (median AQI)
Choose Fayetteville for
- + Median home value
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
- + Average commute
More comparisons
Metros closest to Clarksville and Fayetteville on cost, income, size, and education.
Clarksville vs Fayetteville — frequently asked
- Is Clarksville cheaper than Fayetteville?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Clarksville and Fayetteville metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Clarksville or Fayetteville?
- Clarksville has the higher median household income — $72,347 versus $61,379 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 18% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Clarksville or Fayetteville?
- A paycheck stretches further in Clarksville. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $79,549 there versus $66,732 in Fayetteville.
- Which has cheaper rent, Clarksville or Fayetteville?
- Clarksville has cheaper rent — a median of $1,260/mo versus $1,334/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).