Best PlacesAtoka, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Atoka, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Atoka ranks 5,529th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Atoka
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.
Atoka's strengths and weaknesses
Where Atoka ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Atoka ranks low
- Short commute35.2 minutes each way, better than only 13% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 21% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Atoka
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Atoka home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $103,396, 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 Atoka's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Atoka
Atoka's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Atoka.
Who works in Atoka, and how
Work in Atoka centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Atoka
Atoka has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of towns and more parkland per resident than 84% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Atoka and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Atoka, month by month
Atoka sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 72° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Atoka
Memphis International sits about 28 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.4 million passengers in 2025, with 78 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Atoka
Schools across Atoka average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Atoka Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Munford ElementaryB · 49% proficient
- Drummonds ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Munford Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Brighton Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Brighton High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Munford High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Bolton HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Atoka school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Atoka 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 Atoka against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Atoka
Is Atoka a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Atoka ranks 5,529th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state finances, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Atoka expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $312,837. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $103,396 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Atoka safe?
Yes, Atoka is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $242 per resident a year.
Compare Atoka with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Atoka. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Atoka 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.
Atoka detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Atoka: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Atoka: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Atoka: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Atoka: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Atoka 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.
- 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.