Best PlacesRockvale, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rockvale, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rockvale ranks 4,223rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rockvale
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.
Rockvale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockvale ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
Where Rockvale ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- Short commute36.7 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 36% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rockvale
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockvale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,548, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Rockvale's effective rate of 0.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rockvale
Rockvale'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 Rockvale.
Who works in Rockvale, and how
Work in Rockvale centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Rockvale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rockvale.
What the weather is like in Rockvale, month by month
Rockvale sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Rockvale
Nashville International sits about 25 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 Rockvale
Schools across Rockvale average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Homer Pittard Campus SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Rockvale ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Overall Creek ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Blackman Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Rockvale Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Cascade Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Holloway High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Stewarts Creek High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Rockvale High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockvale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockvale 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 Rockvale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rockvale
Is Rockvale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockvale ranks 4,223rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rockvale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $451,998. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $98,548 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Rockvale safe?
Yes, Rockvale is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
Compare Rockvale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockvale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockvale 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.
Rockvale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockvale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockvale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockvale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockvale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockvale 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.