Moving From Ohio to Chattanooga

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What Ohio taxes (and what it doesn’t)

Ohio is shifting to a flat income tax. For 2025 it runs two brackets — 0% on income up to about $26,700, then 2.75%, with a top rate of 3.125% above roughly $102,400 — and it becomes a flat 2.75% in 2026. Social Security and military retirement are exempt, but:

• Private pensions, 401(k), 403(b), and traditional IRA withdrawals are taxable.
• Ohio’s retirement-income credit is tiny — a maximum of about $200 — so it barely offsets the tax on a meaningful retirement income.
• Many Ohio cities also levy a local income tax (often 1.5–2.5%), though that generally applies to wages, not retirement-account income.

The before-and-after

Call it roughly $1,500–$1,800 a year in Ohio income tax that simply disappears in Tennessee — recurring, every year, for the rest of your retirement.

Property tax and climate add to it

• Property tax: Ohio’s effective rate averages around 1.2%; Hamilton County, TN is roughly 0.38% unincorporated to 0.86% in-city. On a $300,000 home that’s another ~$2,500/yr in Ohio versus ~$1,100–$2,600 here — a further saving in most cases, especially county-only.
• Climate: milder winters, far less snow, and four seasons without the gray Lake Erie stretch.
• Estate tax: neither state has one (Ohio repealed its estate tax in 2013).

The honest verdict for Ohioans

Of the Midwest feeders, Ohio has the cleanest case: you eliminate a real state income-tax bill on your pension and 401(k), trim your property tax, and lose the harsh winters — all while keeping the same Social Security treatment. See the TN retirement tax guide and the total cost comparison.