Best PlacesJackson, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Jackson metro, 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.
Photo by Garryharvey, via commons
Jackson ranks 346th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on health outcomes and low incomes. It does better on state finances, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Jackson metro
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 Jackson
The towns and districts of the Jackson metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Medina
More households have young kids, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Bells & Alamo
Schools score higher, though tree cover is thinner.
Downtown Jackson
Fewer homes sit empty, though homes cost more.
Milan
Prices have run up more and commutes are longer.
Henderson
It is quieter, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Trenton & Dyer
Disaster risk is higher and health outcomes score lower.
Jackson shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Jackson's strengths and weaknesses
Jackson ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. State finances is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. Quiet and state infrastructure follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: health outcomes, low incomes, and walkability all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Jackson ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 95% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than 81% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 80% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$699 a month, better than 80% of metro areas
Where Jackson ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of metro areas
- Household income$64,202 median, better than only 8% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Jackson
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jackson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,202, 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 Jackson's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Jackson
Jackson's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jackson.
Who works in Jackson, and how
Work in Jackson 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 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Jackson
Jackson has less parkland per resident than most metro areas. That concentrates in some parts of Jackson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Jackson growing, and who is moving in?
Jackson has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Memphis, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Jackson go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Jackson, month by month
Jackson sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Jackson
The nearest airport, McKellar-Sipes Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jackson
Schools across Jackson average a C−, better than 13% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Community Montessori SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Westover ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- South ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- West-bemis Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Northeast Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- North Parkway Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison Academic Magnet High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Jackson Central-merry Early College HighB+ · 55% proficient
- West Carroll Junior/senior High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jackson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jackson 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 Jackson against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Jackson suits
Common questions about living in Jackson
Is Jackson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jackson ranks 346th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on health outcomes and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jackson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $188,473. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $64,202 median income, cost of living beats 19% of metro areas.
Is Jackson safe?
Jackson is safer than 12% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $645 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jackson?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 32. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Jackson?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Medina, Bells & Alamo, and Downtown Jackson. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Jackson good for families?
Schools beat 13% of metro areas, crime safety beats 12%, and childcare runs $699 a month.
Is Jackson good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 19% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 17% of metro areas. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Jackson with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jackson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jackson 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.
Jackson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jackson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jackson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jackson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jackson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jackson 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.