Best PlacesHawkins County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hawkins County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hawkins County ranks 2,091st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hawkins 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.
The best areas in Hawkins County
The parts of Hawkins County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Church Hill & Mount Carmel
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Rogersville
Fewer households have young kids and tree cover is thinner.
Bulls Gap & Mooresburg
Prices have run up less, though schools score lower.
Scores across Hawkins County run from about the 11th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hawkins County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hawkins County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of counties
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 80% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 79% of counties
Where Hawkins County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 10% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hawkins County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hawkins County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,446, 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 Hawkins County's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hawkins County
Hawkins County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hawkins County.
Who works in Hawkins County, and how
Work in Hawkins County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Hawkins County
Hawkins County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hawkins County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hawkins County growing, and who is moving in?
Hawkins County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Kingsport, TN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hawkins County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hawkins County, month by month
Hawkins County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Hawkins County
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hawkins County
Schools across Hawkins County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- John Adams Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- George Washington Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Mt Carmel ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ross N. Robinson Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- East Ridge Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Church Hill Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Dobyns - Bennett High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Volunteer High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Morristown East HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hawkins County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hawkins 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 Hawkins County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hawkins County suits
Families
Schools land around the 50th percentile and crime safety beats 57%.
Common questions about living in Hawkins County
Is Hawkins County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hawkins County ranks 2,091st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state finances, and tree cover, and lowest on health outcomes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hawkins County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,852. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $58,446 median income, cost of living beats 22% of counties.
Is Hawkins County safe?
Yes, Hawkins County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $419 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hawkins County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 27. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hawkins County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Church Hill & Mount Carmel, Rogersville, and Bulls Gap & Mooresburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Hawkins County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hawkins County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hawkins 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.
Hawkins County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hawkins County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hawkins County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hawkins County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hawkins County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hawkins 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.