Best PlacesAnderson County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Anderson County, 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.
Anderson County ranks 990th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Anderson County
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.
The best areas in Anderson County
The parts of Anderson County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Norris
Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and heat risk is lower.
Clinton
Prices have run up less, though fewer households have young kids.
Oak Ridge
Commutes are shorter, though incomes run lower.
Powell
Rocky Top
More homes sit empty and fewer adults hold degrees.
Anderson County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Anderson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Anderson County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 80% of counties
Where Anderson County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 24% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 28% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Anderson County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Anderson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,124, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
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 Anderson County's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Anderson County
Anderson County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Anderson County.
Who works in Anderson County, and how
Work in Anderson County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Anderson County
Anderson County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Anderson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Anderson County growing, and who is moving in?
Anderson County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Knoxville, TN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Anderson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Anderson County, month by month
Anderson County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Anderson County
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Anderson County
Schools across Anderson County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hardin Valley ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Linden ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Norris ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hardin Valley Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Jefferson Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Robertsville Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Oak Ridge High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Hardin Valley AcademyB+ · 56% proficient
- Karns High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Anderson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Anderson County 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 Anderson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Anderson County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Anderson County
Is Anderson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Anderson County ranks 990th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and low disaster risk, and lowest on the weather and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Anderson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,362. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $73,124 median income, cost of living beats 83% of counties.
Is Anderson County safe?
Yes, Anderson County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $418 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Anderson County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 29. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Anderson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Norris, Clinton, and Oak Ridge. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Anderson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Anderson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Anderson County 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.
Anderson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Anderson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Anderson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Anderson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Anderson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Anderson County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.