Best PlacesMeldrum, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Meldrum, 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.
Meldrum ranks 48,361st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Meldrum
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.
Meldrum's strengths and weaknesses
Where Meldrum ranks high
- Cheap childcare$461 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 69% of towns
- Short commute24.1 minutes each way, better than 68% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 68% of towns
Where Meldrum ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$19,091 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Meldrum
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meldrum home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $19,091, 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 Meldrum's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Meldrum
Meldrum runs younger 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 Meldrum.
Who works in Meldrum, and how
Work in Meldrum centers on hospitality & food and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Meldrum
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Meldrum.
What the weather is like in Meldrum, month by month
Meldrum sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Meldrum
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around Meldrum
Schools across Meldrum average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Page School CenterC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Bell County High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meldrum school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meldrum 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 Meldrum against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Meldrum
Is Meldrum a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meldrum ranks 48,361st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and heat safety, and lowest on thin health care access and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meldrum expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $75,104. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $19,091 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Meldrum safe?
Meldrum is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Meldrum with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meldrum. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meldrum 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.
Meldrum detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meldrum: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meldrum: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meldrum: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meldrum: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meldrum 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.