Best Places38356, TN Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 38356, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

38356 ranks 18,884th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.

#18,884
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 38356

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 38356 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.

38356's strengths and weaknesses

Top 5%State finances
Top 10%Tree cover
Top 10%Quiet
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 38356 with other zip codes.

Where 38356 ranks high

  • State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of zip codes
  • Tree shadeBetter than 93% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than 93% of zip codes
  • Low property taxBetter than 86% of zip codes
  • Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 82% of zip codes

Where 38356 ranks low

  • Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of zip codes
  • Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
  • School gradeD+, better than only 17% of zip codes
  • BikingBetter than only 18% of zip codes
  • Health outlookBetter than only 19% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 38356

A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 38356 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,214, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$36,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$836
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $143,773 home
Median rent
$1,097
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$733
Property tax$55
Homeowners insurance$48

Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 38356's effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 38356

38356 runs older than the country.

Median age
46
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
23%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.7
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1822%
18 to 3418%
35 to 4918%
50 to 6419%
65 and older24%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 38356.


Who works in 38356, and how

Work in 38356 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.

Work from home
10%
below the national average
Unemployment
2.6%
below the national average
Job growth
−0.9%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Manufacturing23%
Health care & social15%
Retail trade11%
Transportation & warehousing6%
Hospitality & food6%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 88%
  • Work from home 10%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 2%

Life in 38356

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 38356.


What the weather is like in 38356, month by month

38356 sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January50°40°32°
April73°61°50°
July91°80°71°
October75°62°51°

Flying in and out of 38356

The nearest airport, McKellar-Sipes Regional, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 69 miles away.

Nearest airport
MKL
McKellar-Sipes Regional, about 10 miles
Airport size
Nonprimary
2 nonstop destinations
Average drive
15 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 38356

Schools across 38356 average a D+, better than 17% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 38356 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


38356 measure by measure

Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 38356 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 38356

Is 38356 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 38356 ranks 18,884th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 38356 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $143,773. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $67,214 median income, cost of living beats 44% of zip codes.

Is 38356 safe?

Yes, 38356 is safer than 59% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $383 per resident a year.


Compare 38356 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 38356. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 38356 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.

38356 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 38356: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 38356: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 38356: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 38356: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

38356 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.