Best PlacesJonesborough, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jonesborough, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Jonesborough ranks 1,254th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Jonesborough
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.
Jonesborough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jonesborough ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 93% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of cities
Where Jonesborough ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Jonesborough
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jonesborough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,857, 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 Jonesborough's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Jonesborough
Jonesborough 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 Jonesborough.
Who works in Jonesborough, and how
Work in Jonesborough centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Jonesborough
Jonesborough has more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Jonesborough and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Jonesborough, month by month
Jonesborough sees roughly 66 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 Jonesborough
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jonesborough
Schools across Jonesborough average a C, better than 25% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Towne Acres ElementaryA+ · 90% proficient
- Woodland ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Miller Perry ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Liberty Bell Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Ross N. Robinson Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Jonesborough Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Dobyns - Bennett High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- David Crockett High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jonesborough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jonesborough 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 Jonesborough against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Jonesborough suits
Families
Schools land around the 25th percentile and crime safety beats 82%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Jonesborough
Is Jonesborough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jonesborough ranks 1,254th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, state finances, and low disaster risk, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jonesborough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $272,548. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $72,857 median income, cost of living beats 30% of cities.
Is Jonesborough safe?
Yes, Jonesborough is safer than 82% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jonesborough?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 27. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 18% of cities.
Is Jonesborough good for families?
Schools beat 25% of cities, crime safety beats 82%, and childcare runs $811 a month.
Compare Jonesborough with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jonesborough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jonesborough 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.
Jonesborough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jonesborough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jonesborough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jonesborough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jonesborough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jonesborough 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.