Best PlacesManchester, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Manchester, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Manchester ranks 1,648th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Manchester
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.
Manchester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Manchester ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of cities
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 97% of cities
- QuietBetter than 93% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of cities
Where Manchester ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 3% of cities
- Household income$60,766 median, better than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Manchester
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Manchester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $60,766; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Manchester'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 Manchester
Manchester'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 Manchester.
Who works in Manchester, and how
Work in Manchester centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Manchester
Manchester has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Manchester and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Manchester, month by month
Manchester sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 49, 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 | 49° | 39° | 31° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Manchester
Nashville International sits about 55 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.6 million passengers in 2025, with 158 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Manchester
Schools across Manchester average a C+, better than 41% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- New Union ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- College Street ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Hillsboro ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westwood Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Whitworth-buchanan Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Coffee County Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Coffee County Central High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Cannon County High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Manchester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Manchester 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 Manchester against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Manchester suits
Families
Schools land around the 41st percentile and crime safety beats 64%.
Common questions about living in Manchester
Is Manchester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manchester ranks 1,648th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, affordable childcare, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Manchester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,300. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $60,766 median income, cost of living beats 17% of cities.
Is Manchester safe?
Yes, Manchester is safer than 64% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $362 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Manchester?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 31. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of cities.
Is Manchester good for families?
Schools beat 41% of cities, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $564 a month.
Compare Manchester with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manchester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manchester 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.
Manchester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manchester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manchester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manchester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manchester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manchester 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.