Best PlacesHelenwood, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Helenwood, 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.
Helenwood ranks 45,441st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Helenwood
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.
Helenwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Helenwood ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% 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 Helenwood ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of towns
- Household income$44,903 median, better than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Helenwood
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Helenwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,903, 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 Helenwood's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 Helenwood
Helenwood 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 Helenwood.
Who works in Helenwood, and how
Work in Helenwood centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Helenwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Helenwood.
What the weather is like in Helenwood, month by month
Helenwood sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Helenwood
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Helenwood
Schools across Helenwood average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oneida ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Huntsville ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Burchfield ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oneida Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Huntsville Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Oneida High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Scott High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Helenwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Helenwood 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 Helenwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Helenwood
Is Helenwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Helenwood ranks 45,441st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, and low taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Helenwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,720. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $44,903 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Helenwood safe?
Helenwood is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $688 per resident a year.
Compare Helenwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Helenwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Helenwood 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.
Helenwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Helenwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Helenwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Helenwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Helenwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Helenwood 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.