Best PlacesDorton, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dorton, 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.
Dorton ranks 23,327th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dorton
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.
Dorton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dorton ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
Where Dorton ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Household income$57,119 median, better than only 22% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 24% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dorton
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dorton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,119, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Dorton'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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dorton
Dorton 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 Dorton.
Who works in Dorton, and how
Work in Dorton centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Dorton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dorton.
What the weather is like in Dorton, month by month
Dorton sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Dorton
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dorton
Schools across Dorton average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Homestead Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Stone ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- Crab Orchard ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- The Phoenix SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dorton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dorton 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 Dorton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dorton
Is Dorton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dorton ranks 23,327th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dorton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,677. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $57,119 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Dorton safe?
Dorton is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $445 per resident a year.
Compare Dorton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dorton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dorton 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.
Dorton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dorton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dorton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dorton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dorton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dorton 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.