Best PlacesBradley County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bradley 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.
Bradley County ranks 1,187th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on state finances and fast internet. The weaker spots are the weather, an overheated housing market, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Bradley 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.
Bradley County's strengths and weaknesses
Bradley County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State finances, fast internet, and low property taxes carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, an overheated housing market, and summer heat hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Bradley County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 83% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 79% of counties
Where Bradley County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 23% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 31% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bradley County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bradley County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,224, 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 Bradley County's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Bradley County
Bradley County'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 Bradley County.
Who works in Bradley County, and how
Work in Bradley County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bradley County
Bradley 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 Bradley County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bradley County growing, and who is moving in?
Bradley County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chattanooga, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bradley County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bradley County, month by month
Bradley County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 42° | 32° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Bradley County
The nearest airport, Lovell Field, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bradley County
Schools across Bradley County average a C, better than 40% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Michigan Avenue Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Park View Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Candy's Creek Cherokee Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ocoee Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Lake Forest Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Cleveland MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Walker Valley High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Cleveland HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Bradley Central High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bradley County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bradley 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 Bradley County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bradley County suits
Families
Schools land around the 40th percentile and crime safety beats 78%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Bradley County
Is Bradley County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bradley County ranks 1,187th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and low property taxes, 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 Bradley County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $260,862. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $70,224 median income, cost of living beats 69% of counties.
Is Bradley County safe?
Yes, Bradley County is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $364 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bradley County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 32. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of counties.
Is Bradley County good for families?
Schools beat 40% of counties, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $811 a month.
Is Bradley County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 69% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Bradley County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bradley County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bradley 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.
Bradley County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bradley County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bradley County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bradley County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bradley County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bradley 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.