While big cities like Nashville offer culture, cuisine, and charisma, they also deliver terrible traffic, towering expenses, and a taxing quality of life.
With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the best suburbs around Nashville. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near Nashville without actually having to be in the city.
Of course, not all suburbs of Nashville are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. Using Saturday Night Science, we delve into the factors that matter most, from commutes and housing costs to community vibes, to help you uncover the perfect suburban spots in the Greater Nashville area.
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Nashville for 2023:
What’s the best suburb of Nashville? Belle Meade ranks as the best suburb of Nashville for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Belle Meade, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Nashville ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Tennessee:
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Best Nashville Suburbs To Live For 2023
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Belle Meade is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Nashville area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Belle Meade.”
Everyone here is rich; families average $250,001 a year, which is the highest in the Nashville region. And only 0.96% are out of work. Homes average more than $1,662,100 each.
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Population: 4,814
Median Income: $174,643
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 0.9%
More on Oak Hill: Data | Real Estate
Oak Hill is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Nashville for 2023.
It ranks 3rd for incomes in the area and only 1.72% of residents lack insurance, good for 2nd best.
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Population: 44,354
Median Income: $165,948
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.6%
More on Brentwood: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Here in Brentwood, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Nashville metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Brentwood.
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Population: 13,393
Median Income: $152,500
Unemployment Rate: 1.3%
Poverty Rate: 1.0%
More on Nolensville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Nolensville ranks as the 4th best suburb of Nashville for 2023.
You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Nolensville and the schools are some of the best around.
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Population: 81,531
Median Income: $102,721
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 5.1%
More on Franklin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Coming in as the fifth best is Franklin.
Franklin gets kudos for having the 6th most expensive homes in the Nashville area, where houses sell for an average of $468,200. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
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Population: 4,959
Median Income: $211,250
Unemployment Rate: 1.4%
Poverty Rate: 8.8%
More on Forest Hills: Data | Real Estate
Forest Hills is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 1.44%.
According to online reports, Forest Hills is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Nashville area, meaning you need to get in soon.
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Population: 38,059
Median Income: $98,628
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 5.7%
More on Mount Juliet: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Mount Juliet.
Mount Juliet schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it’s only 15.1 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
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Population: 7,011
Median Income: $100,301
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Thompson’s Station: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Thompson’s Station is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 3.27% of people lack insurance, good for 6th in the area.
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Population: 6,845
Median Income: $83,973
Unemployment Rate: 1.2%
Poverty Rate: 6.2%
More on Greenbrier: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Is ‘Everything Better In Greenbrier?’
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
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Population: 60,628
Median Income: $78,067
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
Poverty Rate: 7.1%
More on Hendersonville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
And rounding out the top ten for 2023 is Hendersonville.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Nashville for 2023
Figuring out the best suburbs around Nashville was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.
We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2017-2021 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:
- Low unemployment rate
- High median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college-educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Nashville.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 26 suburbs to evaluate around Nashville.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 26 in each category, where 1 was the “best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Nashville.” We’re lookin’ at you, Belle Meade.
This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.
We updated the data for 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the best Nashville suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Nashville ‘Burbs of 2023
We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Nashville but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.
For more Tennessee reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best Nashville Suburbs
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Belle Meade, TN | 3,016 |
2 | Oak Hill, TN | 4,814 |
3 | Brentwood, TN | 44,354 |
4 | Nolensville, TN | 13,393 |
5 | Franklin, TN | 81,531 |
6 | Forest Hills, TN | 4,959 |
7 | Mount Juliet, TN | 38,059 |
8 | Thompson’s Station, TN | 7,011 |
9 | Greenbrier, TN | 6,845 |
10 | Hendersonville, TN | 60,628 |
11 | Kingston Springs, TN | 2,811 |
12 | Pegram, TN | 2,326 |
13 | White House, TN | 12,820 |
14 | Pleasant View, TN | 4,823 |
15 | Murfreesboro, TN | 148,970 |
16 | Fairview, TN | 9,299 |
17 | Goodlettsville, TN | 17,522 |
18 | Ridgetop, TN | 2,488 |
19 | Smyrna, TN | 52,401 |
20 | Gallatin, TN | 43,306 |
21 | Lebanon, TN | 37,471 |
22 | La Vergne, TN | 38,127 |
23 | Millersville, TN | 6,099 |
24 | White Bluff, TN | 3,815 |
25 | Ashland, TN | 7,478 |
26 | Springfield, TN | 18,561 |