Best PlacesFentress County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fentress County, 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.
Fentress County ranks 2,168th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fentress 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.
Fentress County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fentress County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of counties
- QuietBetter than 93% of counties
Where Fentress County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fentress County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fentress County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,726, 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 Fentress County's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fentress County
Fentress County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fentress County.
Who works in Fentress County, and how
Work in Fentress County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Fentress County
Fentress County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Fentress County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fentress County growing, and who is moving in?
Fentress County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Knoxville, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fentress County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fentress County, month by month
Fentress County sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Fentress County
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fentress County
Schools across Fentress County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Allardt ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Pine Haven ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
- South Fentress Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Alvin C. York InstituteB− · 45% proficient
- Clarkrange High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fentress County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fentress 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 Fentress County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Fentress County
Is Fentress County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fentress County ranks 2,168th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, low property taxes, and state finances, and lowest on biking and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fentress County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,211. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $51,726 median income, cost of living beats 9% of counties.
Is Fentress County safe?
Yes, Fentress County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $418 per resident a year.
Compare Fentress County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fentress County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fentress 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.
Fentress County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fentress County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fentress County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fentress County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fentress County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fentress 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.