Best PlacesBullet Creek, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bullet Creek, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bullet Creek ranks 29,421st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bullet Creek
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.
Bullet Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bullet Creek ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 84% of towns
Where Bullet Creek ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 20% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bullet Creek
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bullet Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,467, 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 Bullet Creek's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 Bullet Creek
Bullet Creek runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bullet Creek.
Who works in Bullet Creek, and how
Work in Bullet Creek centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above 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 Bullet Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bullet Creek.
What the weather is like in Bullet Creek, month by month
Bullet Creek sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 74° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Bullet Creek
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bullet Creek
Schools across Bullet Creek average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Benton ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Rural Vale ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chilhowee Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Polk County High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Tellico Plains High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Central High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bullet Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bullet Creek 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 Bullet Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bullet Creek
Is Bullet Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bullet Creek ranks 29,421st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on cell coverage and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bullet Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,242. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $78,467 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Bullet Creek safe?
Bullet Creek is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $492 per resident a year.
Compare Bullet Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bullet Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bullet Creek 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.
Bullet Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bullet Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bullet Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bullet Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bullet Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bullet Creek 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.