The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Tennessee For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which places in Tennessee have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.

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Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2022.

There's a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in Tennessee:

Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren't here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you'll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in Tennessee, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Volunteer State.

To do that we are going to look at places in Tennessee that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the "deals". The best deal in Tennessee at the moment? That would be Bolivar according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Tennessee for 2022.

The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Tennessee For 2022

  1. Bolivar
  2. Dunlap
  3. Lafayette
  4. Mount Carmel
  5. Rockwood
  6. McKenzie
  7. Jonesborough
  8. Sweetwater
  9. Erwin
  10. Kingston

What's the best place to buy a home in Tennessee for 2022? According to our analysis, would the the ideal place to buy a home looking into the future.

The methodology that wen't into this can be a bit complicated, so we'll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below. If you're not worried about finding a deal on good places to live, check out the most expensive places to live in Tennessee and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in Tennessee.

For more Tennessee reading, check out:

The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Tennessee For 2022

1. Bolivar

Bolivar, TN

Source: Wikipedia User RealElectrical | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,005
Median Home Price: $97,700
Population Change: -0.5%
Home Price Change: 3.5%
More on Bolivar: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

2. Dunlap

Dunlap, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,159
Median Home Price: $117,700
Population Change: 1.1%
Home Price Change: 9.5%
More on Dunlap: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

3. Lafayette

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,239
Median Home Price: $115,800
Population Change: 1.3%
Home Price Change: 20.9%
More on Lafayette: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,297
Median Home Price: $154,000
Population Change: 0.1%
Home Price Change: 1.6%
More on Mount Carmel: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

5. Rockwood

Rockwood, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,446
Median Home Price: $95,800
Population Change: 0.4%
Home Price Change: 15.1%
More on Rockwood: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

6. Mckenzie

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,517
Median Home Price: $99,900
Population Change: 3.5%
Home Price Change: 6.2%
More on Mckenzie: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Jonesborough

Jonesborough, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,539
Median Home Price: $177,500
Population Change: 2.1%
Home Price Change: 5.0%
More on Jonesborough: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

8. Sweetwater

Sweetwater, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,894
Median Home Price: $121,400
Population Change: 0.4%
Home Price Change: 0.5%
More on Sweetwater: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

9. Erwin

Erwin, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,910
Median Home Price: $126,700
Population Change: -0.2%
Home Price Change: 14.4%
More on Erwin: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

10. Kingston

Kingston, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,946
Median Home Price: $173,300
Population Change: 0.3%
Home Price Change: 3.4%
More on Kingston: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Tennessee for 2022?

We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we've put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good place to buy a home.

So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we'd approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Tennessee. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Tennessee with undervalued homes relative to pent up demand.

Best Places To Retire In Tennessee

To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2016-2020 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). Specifically, we used the following criteria:

  • Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
  • Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
  • Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It's still kinda cheap)

We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still "cheap" for Tennessee with the following caveats:

So of the 0 cities and towns in Tennessee, only 97 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.

We then ranked each place from 1 to 97 for the criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a "best place to buy" index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.

Turns out that Bolivar is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Volunteer State.

Read on for more on these places.

Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Tennessee for 2022

There's our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Tennessee. And, to be clear, we aren't necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.

In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.

So if we'd could rent or buy in these cities, we'd definitely buy.

For more Tennessee reading, check out:

Home Prices By City In Tennessee

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
Bolivar 1 $97,700 -0.5% 3.5%
Dunlap 2 $117,700 1.1% 9.5%
Lafayette 3 $115,800 1.3% 20.9%
Mount Carmel 4 $154,000 0.1% 1.6%
Rockwood 5 $95,800 0.4% 15.1%
Mckenzie 6 $99,900 3.5% 6.2%
Jonesborough 7 $177,500 2.1% 5.0%
Sweetwater 8 $121,400 0.4% 0.5%
Erwin 9 $126,700 -0.2% 14.4%
Kingston 10 $173,300 0.3% 3.4%
Munford 11 $199,600 0.9% 18.6%
Thompson's Station 12 $425,100 12.1% 1.1%
Harriman 13 $105,600 0.3% 0.1%
Pigeon Forge 14 $185,100 0.3% 7.9%
Henderson 15 $95,200 0.5% -12.9%
Millersville 16 $199,100 0.8% 6.9%
Church Hill 17 $144,600 -0.0% 1.4%
La Follette 18 $86,500 -1.4% 12.3%
Greenbrier 19 $215,800 0.6% 20.6%
Newport 20 $93,400 0.2% 3.7%
Savannah 21 $115,000 -0.2% 0.0%
Fayetteville 22 $131,700 0.2% 25.0%
Dayton 23 $99,300 0.2% 0.3%
Pulaski 24 $105,200 -0.4% 3.3%
Milan 25 $101,600 -0.4% -4.2%
Lexington 26 $128,200 -0.1% 11.6%
Ripley 27 $92,200 -1.2% 6.3%
Oakland 28 $186,600 3.1% 0.4%
Humboldt 29 $84,600 -0.3% 3.3%
Jefferson City 30 $133,800 -0.2% 5.0%
Signal Mountain 31 $338,100 0.4% -2.3%
Winchester 32 $150,400 1.3% 2.5%
Covington 33 $113,800 0.1% 1.8%
Fairview 34 $259,600 2.6% 14.9%
Lenoir City 35 $145,300 0.3% 15.8%
Nolensville 36 $483,300 9.9% 6.1%
Atoka 37 $206,500 1.8% 5.8%
Brownsville 38 $91,100 -1.6% 3.4%
Alcoa 39 $145,100 2.6% 5.3%
Clinton 40 $165,800 0.4% 0.1%
Paris 41 $98,700 -0.2% 4.2%
Union City 42 $107,200 0.0% 10.9%
Martin 43 $130,600 -0.5% 1.6%
Millington 44 $119,900 0.0% -7.1%
Manchester 45 $138,200 1.6% 6.6%
Hartsville/trousdale County 46 $164,300 6.6% 5.5%
Lawrenceburg 47 $109,600 0.4% 8.0%
Collegedale 48 $227,300 1.1% -0.7%
Crossville 49 $177,600 1.4% 20.8%
Arlington 50 $258,200 0.2% 8.3%
Red Bank 51 $160,100 0.3% 7.5%
Lewisburg 52 $119,300 2.0% 23.2%
White House 53 $224,600 3.5% 4.2%
Lakeland 54 $279,200 0.3% 8.5%
Portland 55 $154,700 1.6% 7.1%
Soddy-Daisy 56 $163,700 0.8% 12.3%
Elizabethton 57 $122,000 -0.1% -1.6%
Mcminnville 58 $105,900 0.1% 7.6%
Athens 59 $156,800 0.6% 5.4%
Greeneville 60 $147,200 -0.0% 14.1%
Dickson 61 $169,900 0.3% 8.6%
Dyersburg 62 $131,200 -0.6% 24.0%
Goodlettsville 63 $242,800 -0.2% 11.0%
Springfield 64 $160,200 0.3% 3.5%
Sevierville 65 $219,300 2.6% 16.5%
Tullahoma 66 $159,600 0.7% 8.9%
East Ridge 67 $133,200 0.1% 2.1%
Shelbyville 68 $139,400 1.2% 12.0%
Farragut 69 $370,900 2.1% 0.1%
Bristol 70 $135,800 0.5% 1.6%
Oak Ridge 71 $157,700 0.3% 1.2%
Maryville 72 $212,700 1.2% 4.0%
Morristown 73 $119,500 0.4% 3.1%
Cookeville 74 $170,300 1.4% 2.2%
Lebanon 75 $261,400 4.8% 16.9%
La Vergne 76 $184,600 0.4% 14.7%
Mount Juliet 77 $288,500 4.2% 5.0%
Germantown 78 $337,600 0.0% 1.8%
Columbia 79 $169,200 3.0% 12.1%
Gallatin 80 $243,600 5.5% 9.3%
Spring Hill 81 $299,900 5.3% 4.6%
Brentwood 82 $682,100 0.7% 4.1%
Cleveland 83 $175,100 1.2% 2.1%
Collierville 84 $332,900 1.0% 4.3%
Smyrna 85 $211,700 2.6% 11.5%
Kingsport 86 $149,100 0.6% 2.3%
Hendersonville 87 $282,000 1.4% 6.0%
Bartlett 88 $195,900 0.3% 5.8%
Johnson City 89 $170,700 0.6% 1.9%
Jackson 90 $138,900 0.2% 4.3%
Franklin 91 $438,800 3.5% 6.4%
Murfreesboro 92 $257,500 3.9% 8.2%
Clarksville 93 $164,800 2.1% 6.8%
Chattanooga 94 $174,900 0.9% 4.4%
Knoxville 95 $142,700 0.7% 4.7%
Memphis 96 $107,100 -0.2% 5.2%
Nashville 97 $264,600 0.5% 10.7%
Download The Entire Tennessee Ranking Data

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About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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