Best PlacesRockholds, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rockholds, 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.
Rockholds ranks 47,277th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rockholds
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.
Rockholds' strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockholds ranks high
- Cheap childcare$461 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 70% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Rockholds ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$39,220 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rockholds
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockholds home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $39,220, 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 Rockholds' effective rate of 0.60%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rockholds
Rockholds'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 Rockholds.
Who works in Rockholds, and how
Work in Rockholds centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Rockholds
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rockholds.
What the weather is like in Rockholds, month by month
Rockholds sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 37° | 30° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Rockholds
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 152 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockholds
Schools across Rockholds average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- G R Hampton Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Whitley Central Intermediate SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Whitley County East Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Whitley County Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Knox County Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Whitley County High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Knox Central High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockholds school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockholds 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 Rockholds against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rockholds
Is Rockholds a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockholds ranks 47,277th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rockholds expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $119,033. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $39,220 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Rockholds safe?
Rockholds is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Rockholds with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockholds. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockholds 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.
Rockholds detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockholds: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockholds: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockholds: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockholds: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockholds 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.