Best PlacesSumner County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sumner 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.
Sumner County ranks 296th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $95,014, 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, an overheated housing market, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Sumner 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 Sumner County
The parts of Sumner 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.
Cottontown & White House
It is quieter, prices have run up less, and crime runs lower.
Hendersonville
More adults hold degrees and local pay stretches further.
Millersville
Tree cover is thicker and incomes run higher.
Westmoreland & Bethpage
Homes cost less, though more homes sit empty.
Gallatin
More households have young kids, though fewer residents vote.
Portland
Schools score lower and health care is harder to reach.
Sumner County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Sumner County's strengths and weaknesses
Sumner County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market, what local pay buys, and state finances carry most of that.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and long commutes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Sumner County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of counties
- Household income$95,014 median, better than 90% of counties
Where Sumner County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
- Short commute29.0 minutes each way, better than only 20% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sumner County
A household needs to earn about $101,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sumner County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $95,014; 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 Sumner County's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 Sumner County
Sumner 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 Sumner County.
Who works in Sumner County, and how
Work in Sumner County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Sumner County
Sumner County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less late-night activity than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sumner County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sumner County growing, and who is moving in?
Sumner County has grown about 23% 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 Sumner County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sumner County, month by month
Sumner County sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 40° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 61° | 48° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Sumner County
Nashville International sits about 20 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 Sumner County
Schools across Sumner County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Dr. William Burrus Elementary At Drakes CreekA · 70% proficient
- Madison Creek ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Union Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
Top middle schools
- T. W. Hunter Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Robert E Ellis MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Station Camp Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Station Camp High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Hendersonville High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Beech Sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sumner County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sumner 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 Sumner County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sumner County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Sumner County
Is Sumner County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sumner County ranks 296th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and state finances, and lowest on the weather 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 Sumner County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $406,576. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $95,014 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Sumner County safe?
Yes, Sumner County is safer than 87% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sumner County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 30. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 3% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sumner County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cottontown & White House, Hendersonville, and Millersville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sumner County good for families?
Schools beat 77% of counties, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $811 a month.
Is Sumner County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sumner County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sumner County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sumner 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.
Sumner County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sumner County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sumner County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sumner County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sumner County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sumner 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.