Best PlacesPope, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pope, 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.
Pope ranks 36,665th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pope
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.
Pope's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pope ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where Pope ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pope
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pope home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,951, 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 Pope's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 Pope
Pope 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 Pope.
Who works in Pope, and how
Work in Pope centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Pope
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pope.
What the weather is like in Pope, month by month
Pope sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 72° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Pope
The nearest airport, McKellar-Sipes Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pope
Schools across Pope average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Linden ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Lobelville ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Linden Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Perry County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pope school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pope 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 Pope against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pope
Is Pope a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pope ranks 36,665th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on cell coverage and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pope expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,551. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $72,951 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Pope safe?
Pope is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $629 per resident a year.
Compare Pope with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pope. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pope 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.
Pope detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pope: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pope: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pope: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pope: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pope 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.