Best PlacesWatts Bar Estates, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Watts Bar Estates, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Watts Bar Estates ranks 31,008th 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 Watts Bar Estates
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.
Watts Bar Estates' strengths and weaknesses
Where Watts Bar Estates ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
- QuietBetter than 78% of towns
Where Watts Bar Estates ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$54,083 median, better than only 18% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Watts Bar Estates
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Watts Bar Estates home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,083, 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 Watts Bar Estates' effective rate of 0.80%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Watts Bar Estates
Watts Bar Estates runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Watts Bar Estates.
Who works in Watts Bar Estates, and how
Work in Watts Bar Estates centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Watts Bar Estates
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Watts Bar Estates.
What the weather is like in Watts Bar Estates, month by month
Watts Bar Estates sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Watts Bar Estates
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Watts Bar Estates
Schools across Watts Bar Estates average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spring City ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Ridge View ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Meigs North ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Midway Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Spring City Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Meigs Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Rhea County High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Rockwood High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Meigs County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Watts Bar Estates school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Watts Bar Estates 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 Watts Bar Estates against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Watts Bar Estates
Is Watts Bar Estates a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Watts Bar Estates ranks 31,008th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on health outcomes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Watts Bar Estates expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,300. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $54,083 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Watts Bar Estates safe?
Yes, Watts Bar Estates is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
Compare Watts Bar Estates with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Watts Bar Estates. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Watts Bar Estates 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.
Watts Bar Estates detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Watts Bar Estates: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Watts Bar Estates: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Watts Bar Estates: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Watts Bar Estates: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Watts Bar Estates 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.