Best PlacesChattanooga, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chattanooga, 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.
Chattanooga ranks 30,681st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chattanooga
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.
Chattanooga's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chattanooga ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 128 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 73% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 66% of towns
Where Chattanooga ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chattanooga
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chattanooga home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,587, 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 Chattanooga's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chattanooga
Chattanooga runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chattanooga.
Who works in Chattanooga, and how
Work in Chattanooga 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 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Chattanooga
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Chattanooga.
What the weather is like in Chattanooga, month by month
Chattanooga sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 40° | 28° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Chattanooga
The nearest airport, Lawton-Fort Sill Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chattanooga
Schools across Chattanooga average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cache EsC · 34% proficient
- Grandfield EsD+ · 25% proficient
- Indiahoma EsD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cache MsC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Cache HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Grandfield HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Indiahoma HsD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chattanooga school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chattanooga 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 Chattanooga against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chattanooga
Is Chattanooga a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chattanooga ranks 30,681st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, state finances, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chattanooga expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $160,719. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $71,587 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Chattanooga safe?
Chattanooga is safer than 43% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $393 per resident a year.
Compare Chattanooga with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chattanooga. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chattanooga 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.
Chattanooga detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chattanooga: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chattanooga: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chattanooga: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chattanooga: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chattanooga 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.