How Much Does Section 8 Pay in Nashville? (FY2027 Payment Standards by ZIP)
There is no single Section 8 rent number for Nashville, and anyone who quotes one is skipping the most important fact about the program here: the Nashville metro area is a mandatory Small Area FMR metro, which means the subsidy ceiling is set ZIP code by ZIP code. For a 2-bedroom in FY2027, HUD's Small Area Fair Market Rents across the 30 ZIP codes in Davidson County run from $1,210 in ZIP 37080 to $2,560 in ZIP 37219, more than double.
Below: the full spread by bedroom size, what your share of the rent actually is, who runs the program in Nashville, and what landlords here should know.
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The FY2027 Numbers: Low ZIP vs. High ZIP
Two ZIP codes at opposite ends of Davidson County show how far the FY2027 figures move:
| Bedrooms | ZIP 37080 | ZIP 37219 |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,070 | $2,260 |
| 1 BR | $1,110 | $2,350 |
| 2 BR | $1,210 | $2,560 |
| 3 BR | $1,550 | $3,290 |
| 4 BR | $1,880 | $3,990 |
The middle of the range: the median 2-bedroom SAFMR across the 30 ZIP codes in Davidson County is $1,870 (ZIP 37206). For reference, HUD's metro-wide FMR for the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN area is $1,798 for a 2-bedroom, which is roughly what every ZIP would get if the metro weren't a Small Area FMR area.
One important caveat: these are HUD's FY2027 SAFMRs, the basis for payment standards. Each housing authority sets its actual payment standard within a band around these figures (typically 90% to 110%), so confirm the exact standard for your ZIP with your PHA before signing anything. You can browse the ZIP-by-ZIP numbers on our Nashville Section 8 guide or straight from HUD's SAFMR dataset.
Beyond Davidson County: The Whole Metro
A voucher can often be used elsewhere in the metro through portability, and the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN area is bigger than Davidson County: 147 ZIP codes in all, from $1,000 for a 2-bedroom in ZIP 37096 up to $2,700 in ZIP 37135 (Williamson County). The metro-wide median is $1,570.
Five ZIP codes spaced across the metro show the whole ladder, from cheapest to most expensive:
| ZIP | County | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37098 | Hickman County | $760 | $1,000 | $1,270 |
| 37029 | Dickson County | $1,110 | $1,210 | $1,550 |
| 37132 | Rutherford County | $1,430 | $1,560 | $2,000 |
| 37138 | Davidson County | $1,700 | $1,850 | $2,380 |
| 37135 | Williamson County | $2,480 | $2,700 | $3,470 |
FY2026 to FY2027: The Change Effective October 1, 2026
HUD's metro-wide 2-bedroom FMR for Nashville went up 3.9% from FY2026 to FY2027: $1,730 to $1,798. Across the 125 ZIP codes HUD published in both years, the 2-bedroom figure rose in 80 and fell in 43, holding in 2. The steepest cut was ZIP 37022, $1,610 to $1,450; the biggest increase was ZIP 37146, $1,640 to $1,800. An increase widens what a voucher can cover, but only once the authority updates its payment standard; ask whether yours has adopted the FY2027 figures yet.
What You Actually Pay as a Tenant
Your share is generally 30% of your adjusted monthly income; the voucher covers the difference between that and the rent, up to the payment standard for your ZIP and bedroom size. Take a household earning $2,400 a month. Its share is about $720. In a ZIP where the 2-bedroom standard is $1,870, the voucher can cover up to $1,150 of the rent.
Practical consequence: in Nashville, where you search changes what your voucher is worth more than almost any other decision. Two similar apartments on opposite sides of a ZIP boundary can differ by hundreds of dollars in approvable rent, while your own contribution stays pegged to your income.
Nashville Landlords: What the Standard Means for You
The economics vary block to block. In ZIPs near the bottom of the table, the standard often matches what the unit would rent for unassisted, with the housing authority's portion arriving every month on schedule. In the higher-cost ZIPs, the ceiling is high enough that a voucher tenant competes with anyone. Either way the PHA runs a rent reasonableness check against comparable unassisted units before approving the lease.
Tennessee has a source-of-income law on the books (Tennessee has no source-of-income protection), but it does not protect housing voucher holders, so a private landlord can decline a voucher here unless a local ordinance says otherwise. What a landlord cannot do is refuse on the basis of race, disability, familial status, or another federally protected trait.
If you own units in Nashville, list them free on VoucherMatch and reach voucher holders searching by ZIP right now.
Who Administers Section 8 in Nashville
Vouchers in the Nashville metro area are administered by several authorities, and each sets its own payment standard inside HUD's band. The biggest ones:
- Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, (615) 252-8410, about 7,500 vouchers
- Tennessee Housing Development Agency, (615) 815-2200, about 6,500 vouchers
- Dickson Housing Authority, (615) 446-9371, about 1,400 vouchers
- Murfreesboro Housing Authority, (615) 893-9414, about 950 vouchers
- Franklin Housing Authority, (615) 794-1247, about 340 vouchers
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a 2-bedroom Section 8 voucher worth in Nashville in FY2027? It depends on the ZIP code: HUD's FY2027 Small Area FMRs for 2-bedrooms range from $1,210 (37080) to $2,560 (37219) across the 30 ZIPs in Davidson County, with a median around $1,870. Your PHA's payment standard is set from these figures.
Why does my voucher cover more in some neighborhoods than others? The Nashville metro area is a mandatory Small Area FMR metro, so HUD publishes a separate FMR for every ZIP code instead of one metro-wide number. The ceiling moves with local rents.
Can a Nashville landlord refuse my voucher? Under state law, yes: Tennessee's source-of-income law does not cover housing vouchers, so a private landlord can decline a voucher unless a local ordinance forbids it. Refusal based on race, disability, familial status, or another federally protected trait is still illegal.
Do these numbers include utilities? The standards assume rent plus a utility allowance fit within the ceiling. If you pay utilities yourself, the approvable rent drops by the allowance for your unit size. The mechanics are the same ones we cover in our utility allowance guide, with Nashville's own allowance schedules.
Where can I see the number for my exact ZIP? Our Nashville Section 8 guide list payment data ZIP by ZIP, or check HUD's SAFMR lookup and confirm with your housing authority.
For the rest of the state, see our Tennessee Section 8 overview.
Have a voucher and looking in Nashville? Browse voucher-friendly listings, filtered by ZIP and bedroom size.
Own property in the Nashville metro area? List it free and reach tenants with guaranteed rent.
VoucherMatch Editorial Team
Every rule, date and dollar amount in this article is checked against the agency document it comes from, and the sources are listed above. How VoucherMatch articles are researched and corrected
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