More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Nashville to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Nashville are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Nashville ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Nashville area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Nashville proper, although Belle Meade certainly tries.
We examined the 26 biggest suburbs of Nashville to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Tennessee lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Nashville in terms of quality of life.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 worst suburbs around Nashville for 2024
- Springfield
- Millersville
- White Bluff
- Ashland
- Smyrna
- La Vergne
- Goodlettsville
- Lebanon
- Gallatin
- Ridgetop
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Nashville? Springfield ranks as the worst suburb of Nashville for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Tennessee check out the best places in Tennessee overall or the worst.
And remember, there are some good places to live around Nashville too.
The 10 Worst Nashville Suburbs To Live For 2024
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Population: 18,775
Median Income: $55,392 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.7% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $311,432 (lowest)
More on Springfield: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
We’ll get the ball rolling with Springfield, the absolute worst place to live around Nashville according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Springfield beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Nashville area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Springfield.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
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Population: 5,818
Median Income: $67,445 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 2.3% (19th highest)
Median Home Value: $315,668 (2nd lowest)
More on Millersville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Welcome to Millersville. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 15.7 miles to Nashville. Income levels here are the 7th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $67,445 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
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Back up the highway we go for the third worst Nashville suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see White Bluff on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Nashville suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
4. Ashland
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Population: 7,617
Median Income: $58,904 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.1% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $394,438 (11th lowest)
More on Ashland:
If you live in Ashland, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2nd lowest Nashville suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 13th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Nashville. Remember, we looked at 26 cities for this study.
Ashland is about 15.8 miles to downtown.
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Population: 53,760
Median Income: $76,115 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $383,291 (8th lowest)
More on Smyrna: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Smyrna has the distinction of being a Nashville suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Smyrna has the 8th lowest home values in the metro Nashville area, where the median price is $383,291. The median income is $250,001.
Smyrna has an unemployment rate of 5.43% which ranks 4th worst.
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Population: 38,553
Median Income: $77,531 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $335,140 (4th lowest)
More on La Vergne: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
La Vergne has 38,553 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 10.052042674993494%.
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Population: 17,500
Median Income: $64,581 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (highest)
Median Home Value: $386,325 (9th lowest)
More on Goodlettsville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Ah, Goodlettsville. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Nashville.
It’s the place with the most out of work residents in the Nashville metro area (5.8%).
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Population: 39,562
Median Income: $63,698 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.0% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $424,030 (15th lowest)
More on Lebanon: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Lebanon is a city about 23.6 miles from Nashville, but Nashville probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Lebanon has the 6th most uninsured people, 3rd worst incomes, and has the 14th highest unemployment rate (3.02%) in the entire Nashville metro area.
Homes only cost $424,030 for a reason. That’s cheap for Nashville standards.
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Population: 44,947
Median Income: $68,548 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.2% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $421,419 (13th lowest)
More on Gallatin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
If you absolutely have to live near Nashville, then Gallatin might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Nashville suburb.
About 3.21% of residents are out of work.
10. Ridgetop
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Population: 2,376
Median Income: $66,964 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $371,230 (6th lowest)
More on Ridgetop: Crime
Rounding out the ten worst Nashville suburbs to call home is Ridgetop.
Located 16.1 miles outside the city, Ridgetops is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 2nd highest unemployment rate (5.76%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Nashville for 2024
To figure out how bad a Nashville suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2018-2022, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Nashville.
We also limited the analysis to places with 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 “worst.”
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Nashville.” We’re looking at you, Springfield.
We updated this article for 2024, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Nashville.
Summary: The areas around Nashville where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2024
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Nashville with Springfield casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Nashville are .
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Nashville aren’t all bad. Belle Meade takes the cake as the best place to live around Nashville.
- Belle Meade
- Oak Hill
- Nolensville
For more Tennessee reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Tennessee
- Cheapest Places To Live In Tennessee
- Most Dangerous Cities In Tennessee
- Best Places To Retire In Tennessee
- Richest Cities In Tennessee
- Safest Places In Tennessee
- Worst Places To Live In Tennessee
Detailed List Of The Worst Nashville Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springfield | 18,775 | $55,392 | $311,432 |
| 2 | Millersville | 5,818 | $67,445 | $315,668 |
| 3 | White Bluff | 3,879 | $66,000 | $326,387 |
| 4 | Ashland | 7,617 | $58,904 | $394,438 |
| 5 | Smyrna | 53,760 | $76,115 | $383,291 |
| 6 | La Vergne | 38,553 | $77,531 | $335,140 |
| 7 | Goodlettsville | 17,500 | $64,581 | $386,325 |
| 8 | Lebanon | 39,562 | $63,698 | $424,030 |
| 9 | Gallatin | 44,947 | $68,548 | $421,419 |
| 10 | Ridgetop | 2,376 | $66,964 | $371,230 |
| 11 | Pleasant View | 4,945 | $93,333 | $392,863 |
| 12 | Fairview | 9,519 | $82,344 | $471,482 |
| 13 | Murfreesboro | 153,487 | $70,451 | $400,303 |
| 14 | White House | 13,305 | $85,404 | $382,688 |
| 15 | Kingston Springs | 2,798 | $92,159 | $448,791 |
| 16 | Pegram | 2,167 | $95,909 | $422,482 |
| 17 | Thompson’s Station | 7,426 | $116,569 | $737,448 |
| 18 | Greenbrier | 6,954 | $94,280 | $363,695 |
| 19 | Hendersonville | 61,589 | $86,954 | $492,503 |
| 20 | Mount Juliet | 39,525 | $108,066 | $532,466 |
| 21 | Franklin | 83,630 | $106,592 | $851,106 |
| 22 | Forest Hills | 4,922 | $239,643 | $1,385,869 |
| 23 | Brentwood | 44,830 | $181,576 | $1,231,379 |
| 24 | Nolensville | 14,444 | $158,266 | $772,828 |
| 25 | Oak Hill | 4,764 | $201,650 | $1,298,176 |
| 26 | Belle Meade | 2,933 | $250,001 | $2,669,498 |
Your site is false, some city may file a suite toward you!!!
I’ve lived in Murfreesboro. Definitely NOT an undesirable place to live. Very historic in parts of town with restored southern mansions built in the 1800’s but the newer area has $400,000+ houses and the most modern shopping malls around. I know people who live in Smyrna and they would be highly insulted to be told their town isn’t desirable. They pride themselves on living in such a well to do area in their $300,000 house. Goodlettsville not desirable? Know what’s there, the headquarters for Dollar General. Google Dollar General’s bears on top of the building. Very rural. Gallatin is another rural area that has built up with beautiful homes and new shopping areas. White House looks just like the picture posted, it’s rural and beautiful. Before you write these articles, why don’t you visit and give the real information on them, not something you looked up in Wikipedia.
Murfreesboro is NOT a “suburb” of Nashville.
Murfreesboro is not a suburb of Nashville, and I highly doubt the average income in Hendersonville is 50k it is much higher same for the house cost. Hendersonville has no crime high house demand and high income, it shouldn’t be number 13. I’m not being bias I don’t live in Hendersonville, everything else is pretty much true though.
This is ridiculous. I’ve lived in Greenbrier, Ridgetop, and Springfield and they aren’t near as bad as you’re making them out to be.
actaully i grew up in the city of murfreesboro and ive seen poverty that ud see in nashville u go visit jackson street, febaurary street or franklin heights ull see wat he talkin about u people are jus from a good part of town so u think its goody goody well come experience yall self
Yall are full of it big time! Nashville and surrounding areas like murfreesboro,Joelton and most cities from Paducah to chattanooga has extremely high crime with I24 being a major highway for criminal activity and loaded with addicts and dealers.FACT! Nashville has been ruined by the occupying leftists transplanted from elsewhere. It doesn’t even have a true Southern atmosphere to it anymore!
Occupying leftists aka Californians!?!
But, we’re leaving CA to escape the terrorist leftists!!!
We want to be able to escape Jerry Brown and his stupid bullet train boondoggle. Also don’t want to live in sanctuary nothing (grammer intentional!!!)(city, county, state) unless for wildlife refuge!
Also don’t want to have to learn another language just to go to the grocery store.
What a bunch of whiny aholes. You can’t make it in California so you cry about it. Screw you rednecks. Every city in California is better than your best Tennessee city. And we don’t tolerate uneducated morons with crappy jobs crying about how they wish they could live by the beach. To the complete ahole saying he left because of the bullet train, what a pile of bull. How the actual does the bullet train affect you, dumbass. As to the moron who compiled this page, you’re a total idiot. White House, Hendersonville, Goodlettesville are all nice places with less crime than in your neighborhood. My family has lived here for a decade – they escape the rathole that is Arkansas.