Best PlacesJohnson City, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Johnson City 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 Mrgriffter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via commons
Johnson City ranks 270th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. It does better on state finances, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Johnson City 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 Johnson City
The towns and districts of the Johnson City 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.
Fall Branch
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Downtown Johnson City
Tree cover is thinner and it is noisier.
Jonesborough, Telford & Limestone
Prices have run up less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Erwin
Health outcomes score lower.
Elizabethton
Homes cost less.
Hampton, Roan Mountain & Unicoi
More homes sit empty and fewer households have young kids.
Johnson City shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Johnson City's strengths and weaknesses
Johnson City lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State finances is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. Fast internet and quiet follow.
The one real hole is the cost of living against local pay, near the bottom of the country. Low incomes and biking also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Johnson City to another than it does between Johnson City and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Johnson City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 89% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of metro areas
Where Johnson City ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 4% of metro areas
- Household income$61,368 median, better than only 4% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than only 5% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 12% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Johnson City
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Johnson City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,368, 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 Johnson City's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Johnson City
Johnson City runs older than the country, 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 Johnson City.
Who works in Johnson City, and how
Work in Johnson City centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Johnson City
Johnson City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of metro areas. That concentrates in some parts of Johnson City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Johnson City growing, and who is moving in?
Johnson City has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kingsport, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Johnson City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Johnson City, month by month
Johnson City sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 50, 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 | 50° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 75° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Johnson City
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Johnson City
Schools across Johnson City average a C+, better than 47% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Towne Acres ElementaryA+ · 90% proficient
- Woodland ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Lake Ridge ElementaryA · 69% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Trail Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Liberty Bell Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Ross N. Robinson Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Dobyns - Bennett High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Science Hill High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Daniel Boone High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Johnson City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Johnson City 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 Johnson City against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Johnson City suits
Families
Schools land around the 47th percentile and crime safety beats 62%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Johnson City
Is Johnson City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Johnson City ranks 270th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and quiet, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Johnson City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,412. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $61,368 median income, cost of living beats 4% of metro areas.
Is Johnson City safe?
Yes, Johnson City is safer than 62% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Johnson City?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 27. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Johnson City?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fall Branch, Downtown Johnson City, and Jonesborough, Telford & Limestone. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Johnson City good for families?
Schools beat 47% of metro areas, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $722 a month.
Is Johnson City good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 4% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 93% of metro areas. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Johnson City with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Johnson City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Johnson City 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.
Johnson City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Johnson City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Johnson City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Johnson City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Johnson City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Johnson City 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.