Best PlacesRutherford County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rutherford County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rutherford County ranks 247th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $90,736, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are the weather, civic engagement, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Rutherford 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 Rutherford County
The parts of Rutherford 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.
Lascassas
More residents vote, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Arrington
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Rockvale
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Christiana
More homes sit empty.
Murfreesboro
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Smyrna & La Vergne
Fewer adults hold degrees and schools score lower.
Scores across Rutherford County run from about the 18th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Rutherford County's strengths and weaknesses
Rutherford County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market, state finances, and what local pay buys carry most of that.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. Civic engagement and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Rutherford County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
- Household income$90,736 median, better than 87% of counties
Where Rutherford County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 18% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- Short commute28.1 minutes each way, better than only 25% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rutherford County
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rutherford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $90,736; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Rutherford County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rutherford County
Rutherford County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rutherford County.
Who works in Rutherford County, and how
Work in Rutherford County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Rutherford County
Rutherford County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 83% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rutherford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rutherford County growing, and who is moving in?
Rutherford County has grown about 30% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Nashville, TN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rutherford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rutherford County, month by month
Rutherford County 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 Rutherford County
Nashville International sits about 21 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 Rutherford County
Schools across Rutherford County average a B, better than 81% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mcfadden School Of ExcellenceA+ · 97% proficient
- Discovery SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Thurman Francis Arts Academy/magnet School For The ArtsA+ · 92% proficient
Top middle schools
- Siegel Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Blackman Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Stewarts Creek Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Magnet SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Oakland High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Holloway High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rutherford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rutherford 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 Rutherford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rutherford County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Rutherford County
Is Rutherford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rutherford County ranks 247th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rutherford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $381,591. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $90,736 median income, cost of living beats 92% of counties.
Is Rutherford County safe?
Yes, Rutherford County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $343 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rutherford County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 30. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Rutherford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lascassas, Arrington, and Rockvale. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Rutherford County good for families?
Schools beat 81% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $811 a month.
Is Rutherford County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Rutherford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rutherford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rutherford 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.
Rutherford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rutherford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rutherford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rutherford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rutherford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rutherford 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.