Best PlacesLittle Emory, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Little Emory, 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.
Little Emory ranks 13,266th 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 Little Emory
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.
Little Emory's strengths and weaknesses
Where Little Emory ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 84% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Little Emory ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Little Emory
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Little Emory home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,907, 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 Little Emory'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Little Emory
Little Emory'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 Little Emory.
Who works in Little Emory, and how
Work in Little Emory centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Little Emory
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Little Emory.
What the weather is like in Little Emory, month by month
Little Emory sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Little Emory
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Little Emory
Schools across Little Emory average a B−, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dyllis Springs ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Midway Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockwood High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Little Emory school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Little Emory 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 Little Emory against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Little Emory
Is Little Emory a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Little Emory ranks 13,266th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, what local pay buys, and low taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Little Emory expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,065. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $79,907 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Little Emory safe?
Yes, Little Emory is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Little Emory with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Little Emory. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Little Emory 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.
Little Emory detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Little Emory: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Little Emory: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Little Emory: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Little Emory: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Little Emory 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.