The 10 Best Chattanooga Suburbs To Live In For 2024


The best Chattanooga suburbs are Lookout Mountain and Signal Mountain for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

While big cities like Chattanooga 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 Chattanooga. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near Chattanooga without actually having to be in the city.

Of course, not all suburbs of Chattanooga 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 Chattanooga area.


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


What’s the best suburb of Chattanooga? Lookout Mountain ranks as the best suburb of Chattanooga for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Lookout Mountain, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.

We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Chattanooga ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.

Feel free to check out some more reading about Tennessee:

The 10 Best Chattanooga Suburbs To Live For 2024

1. Lookout Mountain, TN

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 2,128
Median Income: $181,458
Unemployment Rate: 0.8%
Poverty Rate: 2.3%
More on Lookout Mountain: Real Estate

Lookout Mountain is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Chattanooga area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Lookout Mountain.”

Everyone here is rich; families average $181,458 a year, which is the highest in the Chattanooga region. And only 0.79% are out of work. Homes average more than $885,331 each.

Signal Mountain, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Sam Poss | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 8,833
Median Income: $132,639
Unemployment Rate: 1.7%
Poverty Rate: 2.4%
More on Signal Mountain: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Signal Mountain is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Chattanooga for 2024.

It ranks 2nd for incomes in the area and only 1.52% of residents lack insurance, good for best.

3. Chickamauga, GA

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,978
Median Income: $71,319
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.2%
More on Chickamauga: Real Estate

Here in Chickamauga, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Chattanooga 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 Chickamauga.

4. Lakesite, TN

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,056
Median Income: $89,602
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on Lakesite: Real Estate

Lakesite ranks as the 4th best suburb of Chattanooga for 2024.

You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Lakesite and the schools are some of the best around.

Collegedale, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Graham Patton | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 11,001
Median Income: $69,942
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 8.1%
More on Collegedale: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Coming in as the fifth best is Collegedale.

Collegedale gets kudos for having the 3rd most expensive homes in the Chattanooga area, where houses sell for an average of $393,856. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.

Red Bank, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 11,919
Median Income: $59,027
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 12.7%
More on Red Bank: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Red Bank 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 3.42%.

According to online reports, Red Bank is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Chattanooga area, meaning you need to get in soon.

Soddy-Daisy, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 13,091
Median Income: $64,119
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 7.8%
More on Soddy-Daisy: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Soddy-Daisy.

Soddy-Daisy 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 14.3 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.

8. Varnell, GA

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,410
Median Income: $62,552
Unemployment Rate: 4.7%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Varnell: Real Estate

Varnell 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 9.05% of people lack insurance, good for 7th in the area.

Ringgold, GA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,418
Median Income: $56,684
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 9.1%
More on Ringgold: Data | Real Estate

Is ‘Everything Better In Ringgold?’

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.

Cleveland, TN

Source: Wikipedia User J3nnb0 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 47,725
Median Income: $52,468
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 17.3%
More on Cleveland: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

And rounding out the top ten for 2024 is Cleveland.

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 Chattanooga for 2024

Figuring out the best suburbs around Chattanooga 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 2018-2022 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 Chattanooga.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 20 suburbs to evaluate around Chattanooga.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 20 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 Chattanooga.” We’re lookin’ at you, Lookout Mountain.

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 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best Chattanooga suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.

Summary: Welcome to the Best Chattanooga ‘Burbs of 2024

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.

The best suburbs of Chattanooga are .

So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Chattanooga but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.

For more Tennessee reading, check out:

Table: Best Chattanooga Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Average Home Price
1 Lookout Mountain, TN 2,128 $181,458 $885,331
2 Signal Mountain, TN 8,833 $132,639 $537,026
3 Chickamauga, TN 2,978 $71,319 $243,661
4 Lakesite, TN 2,056 $89,602 $374,474
5 Collegedale, TN 11,001 $69,942 $393,856
6 Red Bank, TN 11,919 $59,027 $287,926
7 Soddy-Daisy, TN 13,091 $64,119 $322,092
8 Varnell, TN 2,410 $62,552 $235,410
9 Ringgold, TN 3,418 $56,684 $294,386
10 Cleveland, TN 47,725 $52,468 $280,069
11 Jasper, TN 3,592 $58,971 $231,265
12 East Ridge, TN 22,040 $53,103 $241,145
13 Fort Oglethorpe, TN 10,203 $49,789 $226,881
14 Dalton, TN 34,358 $57,163 $220,313
15 Trenton, TN 2,188 $43,882 $213,298
16 Lafayette, TN 6,929 $30,284 $157,051
17 Rossville, TN 3,982 $42,845 $159,740
18 Dunlap, TN 5,443 $42,188 $224,978
19 South Pittsburg, TN 3,068 $45,250 $163,902
20 Bridgeport, TN 2,366 $34,000 $122,592
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.