Best PlacesRoane County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Roane County, 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.
Roane County ranks 885th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Roane County
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 Roane County
The parts of Roane County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Oliver Springs & Oak Ridge
Local pay stretches further, tree cover is thicker, and incomes run higher.
Kingston
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Rockwood
It is quieter and heat risk is lower.
Harriman
Homes cost less, though fewer residents vote.
Roane County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 14% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Roane County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Roane County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 90% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of counties
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 80% of counties
Where Roane County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 20% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 22% of counties
- Short commute28.3 minutes each way, better than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Roane County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Roane County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,378, 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 Roane County's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 Roane County
Roane County 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 Roane County.
Who works in Roane County, and how
Work in Roane County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Roane County
Roane County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Roane County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Roane County growing, and who is moving in?
Roane County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Knoxville, TN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Roane County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Roane County, month by month
Roane County sees roughly 67 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 Roane County
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Roane County
Schools across Roane County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Linden ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Avery Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Dyllis Springs ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creekland Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Cherokee Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Midway Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Oak Ridge High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Oliver Springs High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Creekview High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Roane County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Roane County 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 Roane County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Roane County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Roane County
Is Roane County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Roane County ranks 885th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Roane County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,405. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $76,378 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Roane County safe?
Yes, Roane County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Roane County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 29. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Roane County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Oliver Springs & Oak Ridge, Kingston, and Rockwood. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Roane County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Roane County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Roane County 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.
Roane County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Roane County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Roane County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Roane County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Roane County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Roane County 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.