It's what we call a 'low cost of living area.'

Sure, but have you considered moving to a holler in Johnson County?

Well you're in luck because I am here to help! You can in fact afford to live in Tennessee, if you can afford to live anywhere, because rents are as low as $200 a month for a crappy trailer in TN!

Just look at this long-ass link from Zillow that shows all the real estate available for rent in TN sorted by lowest price. Rent starts at $200 and a decent apartment is probably at least $450/mo.

https://www.zillow.com/tn/rentals/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-91.01308386328125%2C%22east%22%3A-80.94411413671875%2C%22south%22%3A33.634606731356804%2C%22north%22%3A37.97611597302191%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22TN%22%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A53%2C%22regionType%22%3A2%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22fr%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22paymenta%22%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A8%7D