Best PlacesClaiborne County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Claiborne County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Claiborne County ranks 2,295th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Claiborne 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 Claiborne County
The parts of Claiborne 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.
New Tazewell
Local pay stretches further, crime runs lower, and incomes run higher.
Tazewell
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Harrogate
Schools score higher, though fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Claiborne County run from about the 6th to the 56th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Claiborne County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Claiborne County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 80% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 79% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 79% of counties
Where Claiborne County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of counties
- Household income$51,284 median, better than only 10% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 12% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Claiborne County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Claiborne County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,284, 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 Claiborne County's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Claiborne County
Claiborne County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Claiborne County.
Who works in Claiborne County, and how
Work in Claiborne County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Claiborne County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Claiborne County.
Is Claiborne County growing, and who is moving in?
Claiborne County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Knoxville, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Claiborne County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Claiborne County, month by month
Claiborne County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Claiborne County
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 171 miles away.
The best schools in and around Claiborne County
Schools across Claiborne County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ellen Myers PrimaryB · 50% proficient
- Springdale ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Powell Valley ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- H. Y. Livesay Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Soldiers Memorial Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Cumberland Gap High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Claiborne High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Claiborne County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Claiborne 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 Claiborne County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Claiborne County suits
Families
Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 68%.
Common questions about living in Claiborne County
Is Claiborne County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Claiborne County ranks 2,295th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on walkability and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Claiborne County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,146. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $51,284 median income, cost of living beats 15% of counties.
Is Claiborne County safe?
Yes, Claiborne County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $392 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Claiborne County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 29. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Claiborne County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are New Tazewell, Tazewell, and Harrogate. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Claiborne County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Claiborne County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Claiborne 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.
Claiborne County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Claiborne County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Claiborne County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Claiborne County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Claiborne County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Claiborne 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.