Best PlacesRocky Top, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rocky Top, 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.
Rocky Top ranks 29,802nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rocky Top
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.
Rocky Top's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rocky Top ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where Rocky Top ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- Short commute32.7 minutes each way, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rocky Top
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rocky Top home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,212, 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 Rocky Top's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rocky Top
Rocky Top runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rocky Top.
Who works in Rocky Top, and how
Work in Rocky Top centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Rocky Top
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rocky Top.
What the weather is like in Rocky Top, month by month
Rocky Top sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Rocky Top
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rocky Top
Schools across Rocky Top average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Norris ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Andersonville ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Lake City ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Norris Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Lake City Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Lafollette Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Anderson County High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Campbell County Comprehensive High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rocky Top school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rocky Top 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 Rocky Top against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rocky Top
Is Rocky Top a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rocky Top ranks 29,802nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, and low taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rocky Top expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,893. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $68,212 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Rocky Top safe?
Rocky Top is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
Compare Rocky Top with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rocky Top. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rocky Top 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.
Rocky Top detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rocky Top: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rocky Top: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rocky Top: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rocky Top: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rocky Top 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.