Best PlacesKnoxville, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Knoxville metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via commons
Knoxville ranks 167th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on state finances and a strong job market. The weaker spots are walkability, biking, and health outcomes.
The best neighborhoods in the Knoxville 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 Knoxville
The towns and districts of the Knoxville 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.
Maryville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and crime runs lower.
Oak Ridge & Harriman
Tree cover is thicker and more adults hold degrees.
Lenoir City, Kingston & Farragut
Prices have run up less and schools score higher.
Downtown Knoxville
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Walland, Seymour & Rockford
Biking is worse.
Powell, Lafollette & Clinton
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Corryton, Maynardville & Rutledge
Commutes are longer.
Wartburg, Jacksboro & Oliver Springs
More homes sit empty and advertised internet is slower.
Knoxville shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Knoxville's strengths and weaknesses
Knoxville lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State finances is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. A strong job market and fast internet follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Walkability, biking, and health outcomes hold the score down. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Knoxville ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Local economyBetter than 94% of metro areas
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of metro areas
Where Knoxville ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than only 14% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than only 16% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of metro areas
- Cell coverageBetter than only 25% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Knoxville
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Knoxville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,455, 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 Knoxville's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 Knoxville
Knoxville'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 Knoxville.
Who works in Knoxville, and how
Work in Knoxville centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Knoxville
Knoxville has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and more late-night spots per resident than 69% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Knoxville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Knoxville growing, and who is moving in?
Knoxville has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Nashville, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Knoxville go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Knoxville, month by month
Knoxville sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Knoxville
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Knoxville
Schools across Knoxville average a C+, better than 50% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Sequoyah ElementaryA+ · 86% proficient
- Blue Grass ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Northshore Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Montgomery Ridge Intermediate SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Farragut Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Coulter Grove Intermediate SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- L N Stem AcademyA+ · 80% proficient
- Farragut High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Bearden High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Knoxville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Knoxville 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 Knoxville against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Knoxville suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Knoxville
Is Knoxville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Knoxville ranks 167th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and fast internet, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Knoxville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $306,759. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $79,455 median income, cost of living beats 85% of metro areas.
Is Knoxville safe?
Knoxville is safer than 52% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $452 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Knoxville?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 31. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 26% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Knoxville?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Maryville, Oak Ridge & Harriman, and Lenoir City, Kingston & Farragut. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Knoxville good for families?
Schools beat 50% of metro areas, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $768 a month.
Is Knoxville good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of metro areas. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Knoxville with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Knoxville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Knoxville 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.
Knoxville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Knoxville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Knoxville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Knoxville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Knoxville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Knoxville 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.