Best PlacesBedford County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bedford 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.
Bedford County ranks 1,347th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bedford 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 Bedford County
The parts of Bedford 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.
Bell Buckle
Unionville
Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.
Shelbyville
Crime runs higher and it is noisier.
Scores across Bedford County run from about the 9th to the 66th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Bedford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bedford County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 95% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 80% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 79% of counties
Where Bedford County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 19% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bedford County
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bedford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $71,805; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Bedford County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bedford County
Bedford County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bedford County.
Who works in Bedford County, and how
Work in Bedford County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Bedford County
Bedford County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bedford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bedford County growing, and who is moving in?
Bedford County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Nashville, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bedford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bedford County, month by month
Bedford County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 31° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Bedford County
Nashville International sits about 44 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.6 million passengers in 2025, with 158 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bedford County
Schools across Bedford County average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Thomas Magnet SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Cascade ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Community Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cascade Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Community Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Harris Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Cascade High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Community High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Shelbyville Central High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bedford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bedford 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 Bedford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bedford County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bedford County
Is Bedford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bedford County ranks 1,347th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, a strong job market, and state finances, and lowest on an overheated housing market and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bedford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $293,728. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $71,805 median income, cost of living beats 66% of counties.
Is Bedford County safe?
Bedford County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $434 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bedford County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 31. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Bedford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bell Buckle, Unionville, and Shelbyville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Bedford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bedford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bedford 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.
Bedford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bedford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bedford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bedford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bedford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bedford 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.