Best PlacesGalen, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Galen, 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.
Galen ranks 30,021st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Galen
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.
Galen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Galen ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where Galen ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Short commute35.7 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Galen
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Galen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,535, 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 Galen's effective rate of 0.20%, 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 Galen
Galen runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Galen.
Who works in Galen, and how
Work in Galen centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Galen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Galen.
What the weather is like in Galen, month by month
Galen sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Galen
Nashville International sits about 50 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 Galen
Schools across Galen average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lafayette Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Macon County High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Galen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Galen 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 Galen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Galen
Is Galen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Galen ranks 30,021st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state finances, and low taxes, and lowest on the weather and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Galen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $319,311. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $78,535 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Galen safe?
Yes, Galen is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
Compare Galen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Galen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Galen 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.
Galen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Galen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Galen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Galen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Galen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Galen 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.