Boston, Nashville, El Paso, Detroit, and Oklahoma City: Moving to America's 21st Through 25th Largest Cities

Detroit now counts more residents than it did in 2020, and Boston counts fewer. The Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates put Detroit at 649,095 people on July 1, 2025, up from an April 2020 base of 639,534, after a dip to 634,219 in 2022 and three years of gains since; Boston slipped over the same period from 678,617 to 672,973. In the same table, Oklahoma City ranks 21st, El Paso 23rd, and Boston 25th, all inside this guide’s range; Nashville has moved up to 20th, and Detroit sits just outside the range at 26th.

City	Rank, 2025	Population, July 1, 2025	Change since April 2020	Metro price level, 2024 (US = 100)	Metro housing rents, 2024 (US = 100)	Metro utilities, 2023 (US = 100)
Boston	25	672,973	down 5,644	108.3	148.4	172.4
Nashville	20	721,074	up 31,625	96.3	104.6	76.5
El Paso	23	683,012	up 4,080	89.9	71.2	91.2
Detroit	26	649,095	up 9,561	100.3	94.7	107.5
Oklahoma City	21	719,849	up 38,913	90.4	73.9	80.5

The three price columns are Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities, and each describes the metro area around the city. The price level and housing columns are for 2024, from BEA’s February 2026 release as listed in the St. Louis Fed’s metro table; the utilities column is for 2023, from Table 4 of BEA’s December 2024 release. Because it is a year older than the other two columns, the utilities column ranks utility price levels rather than adding up with them into one year’s costs, but it is the one to read closely here: it runs from 76.5 in the Nashville metro to 172.4 in the Boston metro.

Boston: Reserve the Truck’s Spot, and Expect a Different Upfront Bill

A Boston move has a permit option that sets its own calendar. The City of Boston’s page for reserving a parking spot for your moving truck says a permit “is not required, but it guarantees you a legal parking spot for the day of the move.” A standard permit, according to the page, reserves two parking spaces for one day from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and you can apply online only if your moving date is at least 15 days and no more than eight weeks away. In October 2026 the page listed a one-day permit for two non-metered spaces at $69, including two signs, with an added charge for metered spaces, and it says the signs must be posted at least 48 hours before the 7 a.m. start, with three days recommended. The permit arrives by mail, so the 15-day minimum is not padding.

The money due at signing can include more than a deposit. The Commonwealth’s consumer page on security deposits and last month’s rent says, “Landlords are allowed to collect the first and last month’s rent, a security deposit equal to one month’s rent and money for the purchase and installation costs for a lock and key.” The same page adds that these prepayments cannot be switched to another use unless both sides agree, which means the deposit cannot serve as your last month’s rent without the landlord’s agreement.

A broker’s fee is a separate question, and Massachusetts changed it in 2025. The state’s frequently asked questions on rental broker’s fees says: “As of August 1, 2025, broker’s fees for rental units must be paid by the person who hired the broker or salesperson.” If you did not hire the broker yourself, the same page says, you should not have to pay that broker’s fee; if you hire your own broker to help with the search, that fee is yours. The page notes one transition case: a lease signed before August 1, 2025 may still carry the fee its terms set out.

Getting the deposit back runs on a 30-day clock. According to Massachusetts’ page on returning a security deposit, a landlord must return the deposit and any interest, minus lawful deductions, within 30 days after the tenant moves out, or within 30 days after the lease ends if a tenant with a written lease leaves early. A landlord who has forfeited the right to keep the deposit, for example by not holding it in a proper account or not returning the balance on time, can be ordered by a court to pay three times the deposit plus interest and attorney’s fees.

The Boston metro’s utilities figure, 172.4 in 2023, was the highest of the five metros here, and its housing rents figure was 148.4 in 2024. Both point to the same budgeting step: ask which utilities a Boston lease includes before comparing apartments on rent.

Nashville: Above the Title’s Range, With a Repealed Investment Tax

Nashville has outgrown this guide’s range: the Census table ranks it 20th, after a gain of 31,625 residents between 2020 and 2025. The Census lists it under the name “Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance)” and the figures here use that entry.

The first practical step in Nashville is electricity. If Nashville Electric Service supplies your new address, its start and stop service page says you can start, stop, or transfer service through its My Account system and asks, “Please contact us at least one business day in advance.” A move-in day therefore needs the request in by the business day before.

Tennessee’s tax picture changed in 2021 for anyone with investment income. The Tennessee Department of Revenue’s Hall income tax page explains that the Hall tax “is imposed only on individuals and other entities receiving interest from bonds and notes and dividends from stock” and that it “was repealed for tax periods that begin on January 1, 2021, or later.” The page asks taxpayers not to file a return for any tax year beginning on or after that date. For a newcomer, the practical point is narrow: if an older guide or tax checklist tells you to budget for a Tennessee tax on dividends and interest, that tax no longer applies.

Nashville’s metro had the lowest utilities figure in this table, 76.5 in 2023, with housing rents at 104.6 and an overall price level of 96.3 in 2024.

El Paso: The Lowest Rents Here, and an Emissions County

El Paso’s metro housing rents figure, 71.2 in 2024, was the lowest in this group and roughly half of Boston’s. Its overall price level was 89.9, also the lowest of the five.

For a car, El Paso County follows the same Texas rule change that took effect in 2025. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles says non-commercial vehicles no longer need a safety inspection before registration, but in October 2026 it listed El Paso among the 17 counties where those vehicles must still pass an emissions inspection first. Combined with the 30-day registration window the TxDMV gives new residents on its New to Texas page, that puts an emissions test in your first month if you bring a car registered in another state.

El Paso grew only slightly, by 4,080 residents between 2020 and 2025, and ranks 23rd.

Detroit: A City Income Tax That Depends on Where You Live

Detroit taxes income at the city level, and the rate depends on residency. The City of Detroit’s income tax information page lists rates for calendar year 2013 and later of 2.4 percent for resident individuals and 1.2 percent for nonresident individuals. Two situations follow from those rates. If you live in Detroit, the resident rate applies. If you live outside the city, the nonresident rate is about income earned in Detroit: the same page says nonresidents who work less than 100 percent of their time within the city must complete Schedule N to allocate their income, and that days worked from home do not count as days worked outside Detroit for a nonresident based in the city. So in the Detroit area, both the address you choose and where you do the work decide what the city taxes.

Detroit’s metro priced at 100.3 overall and 94.7 for housing rents in 2024, with utilities at 107.5 in 2023. The city’s own population grew by 9,561 between 2020 and 2025, the Census table shows, though it still ranks 26th.

Oklahoma City: The Largest Gain in the Group

Oklahoma City added 38,913 residents between April 2020 and July 2025, the largest gain among these five, and ranks 21st. Its metro priced at 90.4 overall and 73.9 for housing rents in 2024, the second-lowest housing figure in this table after El Paso.

City water comes with an identity check. The Oklahoma City Utilities Department’s start, stop or transfer page tells new customers to start water, sewer, and trash service through its online customer site or by phone, and says that when you start service it uses the information you provide to verify your identity and to see whether you qualify for a deposit waiver, by pulling a “soft inquiry” through a credit reporting agency. The page adds that the soft inquiry will not affect your credit score. Have your date of birth and the other details the page lists ready when you call or apply.

Transferring a license is simpler in Oklahoma when your current one qualifies. Service Oklahoma says new residents need to apply for an Oklahoma license and that you can transfer a license from another state “without having to take a written or drive test” if your driving record meets its standards and either your license is valid and you are not changing vehicle type, or it has been expired for no more than six months. An expired commercial license or permit cannot be transferred, the page notes. If your out-of-state license is close to expiring, transferring within six months of its expiration keeps you inside the simpler path.

Choosing by What Changes Your Budget

The decision rule for this group is to follow the number that moves with your situation. If rent is the largest line in your budget, the housing column decides: from 71.2 in El Paso to 148.4 in Boston. If utilities are separate from rent, the utilities column decides, and it runs from 76.5 in Nashville to 172.4 in Boston. If you earn wages and are choosing between Detroit and its suburbs, the city’s 2.4 percent resident rate is the line to price in. And if you are moving to Boston, the online truck permit sets the earliest date on your calendar, since it has to be requested at least 15 days before the move.