Best PlacesSmith County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Smith 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.
Smith County ranks 1,670th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Smith 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.
Smith County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smith County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 83% of counties
Where Smith County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of counties
- Short commute32.2 minutes each way, better than only 9% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Smith County
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smith County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,990, 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 Smith County's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Smith County
Smith County'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 Smith County.
Who works in Smith County, and how
Work in Smith County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Smith County
Smith County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Smith County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Smith County growing, and who is moving in?
Smith County has grown about 9% 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 Smith County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Smith County, month by month
Smith County sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Smith County
Nashville International sits about 40 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 Smith County
Schools across Smith County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Gordonsville Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Defeated ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Forks River ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Smith County Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Gordonsville High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Smith County High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smith County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smith 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 Smith County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Smith County
Is Smith County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smith County ranks 1,670th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on walkability and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smith County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,182. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $66,990 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Smith County safe?
Yes, Smith County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
Compare Smith County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smith County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smith 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.
Smith County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smith County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smith County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smith County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smith County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smith 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.