Best PlacesElk Mills, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elk Mills, 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.
Elk Mills ranks 42,692nd 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 Elk Mills
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.
Elk Mills' strengths and weaknesses
Where Elk Mills ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 85% of towns
Where Elk Mills ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elk Mills
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elk Mills home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,313, 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 Elk Mills' effective rate of 0.36%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Elk Mills
Elk Mills 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 Elk Mills.
Who works in Elk Mills, and how
Work in Elk Mills centers on hospitality & food and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Elk Mills
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elk Mills.
What the weather is like in Elk Mills, month by month
Elk Mills sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Elk Mills
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elk Mills
Schools across Elk Mills average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Valley Forge ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Happy Valley Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Unaka High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elk Mills school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elk Mills 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 Elk Mills against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elk Mills
Is Elk Mills a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elk Mills ranks 42,692nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and low property taxes, 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 Elk Mills expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,500. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $53,313 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Elk Mills safe?
Yes, Elk Mills is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $367 per resident a year.
Compare Elk Mills with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elk Mills. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elk Mills 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.
Elk Mills detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elk Mills: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elk Mills: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elk Mills: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elk Mills: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elk Mills 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.