Best PlacesDickson, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dickson, 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.
Dickson ranks 16,469th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dickson
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.
Dickson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dickson ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
Where Dickson ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 29% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 30% of towns
- Short commute29.5 minutes each way, better than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dickson
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dickson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,539, 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 Dickson's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dickson
Dickson runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dickson.
Who works in Dickson, and how
Work in Dickson centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Dickson
Dickson has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of towns and more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dickson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dickson, month by month
Dickson sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 32° |
| April | 72° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Dickson
Nashville International sits about 40 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 Dickson
Schools across Dickson average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stuart Burns ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Centennial ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- The Discovery SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dickson Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Charlotte Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Waverly Jr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Waverly Central High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Dickson County High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Creek Wood High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dickson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dickson 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 Dickson against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Dickson suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Dickson
Is Dickson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dickson ranks 16,469th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, transit, and fast internet, 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 Dickson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $288,967. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $74,539 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Dickson safe?
Dickson is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $403 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dickson?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 32. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of towns.
Is Dickson good for families?
Schools beat 71% of towns, crime safety beats 54%, and childcare runs $564 a month.
Compare Dickson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dickson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dickson 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.
Dickson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dickson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dickson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dickson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dickson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dickson 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.