Best PlacesElm Springs, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elm Springs, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elm Springs ranks 15,407th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elm Springs
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.
Elm Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Elm Springs ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
Where Elm Springs ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elm Springs
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elm Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,833, 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 Elm Springs' effective rate of 0.40%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elm Springs
Elm Springs runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Elm Springs.
Who works in Elm Springs, and how
Work in Elm Springs centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Elm Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elm Springs.
What the weather is like in Elm Springs, month by month
Elm Springs sees roughly 76 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 Elm Springs
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elm Springs
Schools across Elm Springs average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Springdale ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Soldiers Memorial Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Claiborne High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elm Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elm Springs 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 Elm Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elm Springs
Is Elm Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elm Springs ranks 15,407th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state finances, and tree cover, and lowest on biking and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elm Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $266,300. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,833 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Elm Springs safe?
Yes, Elm Springs is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
Compare Elm Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elm Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elm Springs 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.
Elm Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elm Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elm Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elm Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elm Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elm Springs 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.