The 10 Best Small Towns In Tennessee For 2026

You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in Tennessee. Best sururbs in Tennessee. Best counties in Tennessee.

Etc., etc., etc.

But they all focus on major cities and towns in the Volunteer State, and no one pays attention to the little guy.

Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the superb small towns in Tennessee based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.

We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section, but first, we thought you might want to know which places in Tennessee ranked the best based on Saturday Night Science.

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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

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The 15 Best Small Towns To Live In Tennessee For 2026

1. Belle Meade
2. Lookout Mountain
3. Oak Hill
4. Forest Hills
5. Sewanee
6. Fairmount
7. Gray
8. Lakesite
9. Colonial Heights
10. Falling Water
11. Berry Hill
12. Norris
13. Ridgetop
14. Walden
15. Kingston Springs

What’s the best small town in Tennessee? Belle Meade is the best small town in Tennessee based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Belle Meade, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading, and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the Volunteer State check out:

• Best Places To Live In Tennessee
• Cheapest Places To Live In Tennessee
• Most Dangerous Cities In Tennessee

The 15 Best Small Towns In Tennessee For 2026

1. Belle Meade

Source: Wikipedia User Colin1769 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 2,708
Median Income: $250,001 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $2,327,527 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.3%

2. Lookout Mountain

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 2,111
Median Income: $201,000 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,027,442 (4th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.4%

3. Oak Hill

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,617
Median Income: $215,530 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $1,396,050 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.7%

4. Forest Hills

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 4,683
Median Income: $250,001 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $1,644,514 (2nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.3%

5. Sewanee

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,936
Median Income: $136,111 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $423,248 (24th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.0%

6. Fairmount

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,110
Median Income: $137,317 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $540,568 (11th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

7. Gray

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,237
Median Income: $69,947 (45th Best)
Median Home Value: $306,481 (48th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

8. Lakesite

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,168
Median Income: $96,250 (18th Best)
Median Home Value: $396,041 (28th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%

9. Colonial Heights

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,258
Median Income: $80,148 (29th Best)
Median Home Value: $252,653 (89th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%

10. Falling Water

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,315
Median Income: $111,842 (14th Best)
Median Home Value: $489,478 (15th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%

11. Berry Hill

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 1,980
Median Income: $79,591 (30th Best)
Median Home Value: $706,404 (5th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%

12. Norris

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 1,485
Median Income: $75,515 (34th Best)
Median Home Value: $486,179 (16th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.2%

13. Ridgetop

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,995
Median Income: $85,063 (25th Best)
Median Home Value: $395,815 (29th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.6%

14. Walden

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,845
Median Income: $124,493 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $681,510 (7th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%

15. Kingston Springs

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 2,791
Median Income: $103,250 (17th Best)
Median Home Value: $476,979 (17th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%

Next 10 Cities

Methodology: How We Determined The Coolest Towns In Tennessee

We threw a lot of criteria at this report to get the best, most complete results of the best small towns in Tennessee possible.

Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Saturday Night Science, this is the criteria we used:

• Population Density (Higher is better)
• Lowest Unemployment Rates
• Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
• Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
• Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
• Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
• Commute Times (Lower is better)

We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which there were many – 176 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 176, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in Tennessee. Top of that list — Belle Meade.

This is our eleventh time ranking the best small places to live in Tennessee.

Summary: Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones

We said it once, and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, crunched the numbers, and it turns out these 15 small towns in Tennessee are the best in which to live.

And who can argue with that?

The best small towns in Tennessee are Belle Meade, Lookout Mountain, Oak Hill, Forest Hills, Sewanee, Fairmount, Gray, Lakesite, Colonial Heights, and Falling Water.

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in Tennessee:

1. Sneedville
2. Altamont
3. Winfield

For more Tennessee reading, check out:

• Best Places To Raise A Family In Tennessee
• Safest Places In Tennessee
• Worst Places To Live In Tennessee

Best Small Towns In Tennessee