12 Best Places to Live in Tennessee If You Hate Crowds (And What They Cost)

Davidson County packs about 1,482 people into every square mile. Perry County holds about 22. We compare 12 quieter Tennessee towns using county-level Census home values, incomes, population density and migration. These 12 counties are ranked by home value relative to household income. The town names the destination. The county carries the numbers. Housing and incomes: Census ACS 2020–2024. Home-value change: ACS 2015–2019 versus 2020–2024, before inflation adjustment. Population and migration: Census PEP Vintage 2025; migration summed 2021–2025. Density uses 2023 Gazetteer land area. These survey estimates are not current asking prices or sale prices. CHAPTERS 00:00 Why these 12 Tennessee towns 00:33 How the county comparisons work 01:44 12. Erwin — Unicoi County 02:36 11. Mountain City — Johnson County 03:14 10. Jamestown — Fentress County 04:00 9. Tazewell — Claiborne County 04:43 8. Dover — Stewart County 05:30 7. Paris — Henry County 06:05 Your budget and county medians 06:19 6. Parsons — Decatur County 07:03 5. Selmer — McNairy County 07:42 4. Oneida — Scott County 08:43 3. Benton — Polk County 09:30 2. Wartburg — Morgan County 10:20 1. Linden — Perry County 11:50 The comparison recap 12:31 Sources and next steps DATA SOURCES U.S. Census ACS: https://www.census.gov/programs-surve... County population and migration: https://www.census.gov/programs-surve... Gazetteer land areas: https://www.census.gov/geographies/re... MUSIC “Wholesome”, “Deliberate Thought” and “Carefree” — Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... IMAGE CREDITS Source links identify each photograph and its original title. Photos cropped/animated; original licences retained. Harrison Keely — CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Alan Cressler, U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain. — Public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Brian Stansberry — CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... rjones0856 from USA — CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Hlj — CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Brian Stansberry — CC BY 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Mark Fickett — CC BY 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... David M. Vanderwyst — CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region — Public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... SBaker43 — CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... allen — CC BY-SA 4.0 https://www.mapillary.com/app/?focus=... https://www.mapillary.com/app/?focus=... https://www.mapillary.com/app/?focus=... https://www.mapillary.com/app/?focus=... https://www.mapillary.com/app/?focus=... Nyttend — Public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... lvl5 — CC BY-SA 4.0 https://www.mapillary.com/app/?focus=... Flickr user ktylerconk (Kathleen Conklin) — CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... TheCatalyst31 — CC0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Nheyob — CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... ThaesOfereode — CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Skye Marthaler — CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... w_lemay — CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Dwight Burdette — CC BY 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Licence terms: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...