Ask online where to live around Knoxville, and you'll hear the same answer over and over: move to Farragut. So I ranked 12 towns around Knoxville. Not on opinions. On the numbers.
I used every single-family home that sold in all 12 from May 1 through November 2, 2026. That's 4,508 sales. Farragut came in ninth. And number one was a tie, broken by the one cost you pay every single year.
How I Ranked Them
I ranked each town from 1 to 12 on five numbers, then averaged the five ranks. Lowest average wins.
Median sale price
Price per square foot: how much house you get for the money
Property tax per $100,000: each home's current tax bill divided by its price, so a $300,000 house and a $700,000 house compare fairly
Median days on market: how fast homes sold
Growth since 2020: from U.S. Census estimates
What I didn't rank: schools and crime. I don't rate those, and you should check them yourself. And this isn't where I'd personally live. It's what the numbers say.
The Final Ranking
Powell
Oak Ridge
Halls
Hardin Valley
Alcoa
Seymour
Knoxville (inside the city)
Lenoir City
Farragut
Maryville
Loudon
Sevierville
Here's the countdown, from 12 to 1.
12. Sevierville
Median price: $499,500
Price per sq ft: about $273, the highest on the list
Days on market: 53, the slowest on the list
Growth since 2020: about 4.5%
Why it's last: More than half of the Sevierville listings in my data (61%) mention cabins or vacation rentals. A lot of these buyers aren't buying a house to live in. They're buying a business. That pushes prices up and slows sales down.
My take: If you want a vacation rental, Sevierville is a real option, and I work with short-term rental buyers. If you're moving here to live full time, the numbers say there's better value closer to Knoxville.
11. Loudon
Median price: $628,000, second highest on the list
Price per sq ft: about $259
Days on market: 32
Growth since 2020: about 16%
What's going on: Almost 6 in 10 sales with a Loudon address were in Tellico Village, the lake and golf community where a lot of retirees buy. That's also why 36% of Loudon buyers paid cash, the highest of any town. The median home was built in 2016, so it's newer and pricier.
10. Maryville
Median price: $415,000
Price per sq ft: about $220
Days on market: 17
Growth since 2020: about 1.7%, the slowest on the list
What sank it: growth. On everything else, Maryville is solid. Half the homes sold between about $343,000 and $525,000, and about 1 in 6 was new construction.
To be fair: my sales data uses Maryville mailing addresses, which go well outside the city limits, and a lot of Blount County's growth is happening just outside the city line. If you love Maryville, I get it. It just didn't win on these five numbers.
9. Farragut
Median price: $760,000, the highest on the list by far
Price per sq ft: about $244
Days on market: 15, tied for the fastest
Growth since 2020: about 6.9%
The honest read: Farragut isn't a bad place. It's an expensive place. Half the homes sold between about $575,000 and $985,000, and only 2% of 266 sales were under $350,000. You do get a lot of house, almost 3,000 square feet at the median, and taxes are reasonable because the Town of Farragut doesn't charge its own property tax.
If your budget is $750,000 or more, Farragut belongs on your list. If it's $400,000, the numbers point you somewhere else.
8. Lenoir City
Median price: $475,000
Price per sq ft: about $226
Days on market: 24
Property tax: about $261 a year per $100,000
Growth since 2020: about 24%, second fastest on the list
Why eighth: Lenoir City is booming and taxes are low, but the median price is a jump from the towns ahead of it. About 1 in 4 homes sold for under $350,000. If you want growth and a lake nearby, keep it on your list. Just bring a bigger budget.
7. Knoxville (Inside the City)
Median price: $322,500, the lowest on the list
Price per sq ft: about $225
Days on market: 18
Property tax: about $522 a year per $100,000
Growth since 2020: about 6%
The good: almost 6 in 10 homes inside the city sold for under $350,000. No other town comes close.
The tradeoff: Inside the city, you pay two tax bills, county and city. That's more than double what you'd pay in Powell or Halls. The homes are also smaller and older: just under 1,500 square feet and built in 1958 at the median. Our Knox County Property Tax Guide shows how the city line works.
6. Seymour
Median price: $375,000
Price per sq ft: about $210
Days on market: 33
Property tax: about $199 a year per $100,000, the lowest on the list
Growth since 2020: about 3.6%
Why it's worth a look: lowest taxes on the list and the biggest yards, with the median lot just over half an acre. About 4 in 10 homes sold for under $350,000. What held it back was speed and growth.
5. Alcoa
Median price: about $332,000
Price per sq ft: about $246
Days on market: about 16
Property tax: about $654 a year per $100,000, the highest on the list
Growth since 2020: about 24.6%, the fastest on the list
The catch: Alcoa is affordable, with more than half of homes selling under $350,000, but like Knoxville you pay a city bill and a county bill. Alcoa only had 76 sales in my data, so treat these as a smaller sample.
4. Hardin Valley
Median price: $570,000
Price per sq ft: about $221
Days on market: 15, tied for the fastest
Property tax: about $257 a year per $100,000 (county bill only)
Why it ranks high: 35% of the homes that sold were new construction, the most on the list. The downside: the median lot is only about a fifth of an acre, the smallest on the list, and only 4% of homes sold under $350,000. Up to 434 more homes could be coming, too. See What's Coming to Knoxville.
3. Halls
Median price: about $398,000
Median size: over 2,100 square feet
Price per sq ft: about $205, third best on the list
Days on market: 22
Property tax: about $239 a year per $100,000 (county bill only)
Halls is a value play. About 1 in 4 homes sold under $350,000. What kept it out of the top two was speed. And before you buy, drive Maynardville Pike at 7:30 on a weekday morning. See our Halls Crossroads guide and Halls High School Zone guide.
2 and 1: The Tie
Oak Ridge and Powell finished with exactly the same average score.
Oak Ridge:
Median price: $350,000
Price per sq ft: about $201, the best on the list
Days on market: about 16
Growth since 2020: about 12.7%
Heads-up: the median home was built in 1960, so budget for updates
Powell:
Median price: $399,900
Price per sq ft: about $204
Days on market: 19
Half the homes sold between $325,000 and about $496,000, and almost 1 in 5 was new construction
The tie-breaker: property tax. Oak Ridge has a city bill and a county bill, about $622 a year per $100,000. Powell is outside any city, county bill only, about $229. On a $400,000 house, that's roughly $2,500 a year in Oak Ridge vs. about $900 in Powell. About $1,600 a year, every year.
So number two is Oak Ridge, and number one is Powell. Not because it's flashy. Because it's a lot of house, for a fair price, with a low tax bill, in a part of the county that's still growing. Learn more in our Powell neighborhood guide.
What Surprised Me
The city line: The three towns with the lowest taxes, Seymour, Powell and Halls, are outside any city limits. The three highest, Alcoa, Oak Ridge and Knoxville, all have a city bill on top of the county.
Growth isn't where you'd guess: Alcoa and Lenoir City both grew about 24%. Farragut grew about 7%.
Price isn't speed: Farragut and Hardin Valley were the most expensive places in Knox County, and they still sold the fastest.
Where Your Budget Fits
$350,000 or less: Knoxville (inside the city), Alcoa and Oak Ridge give you the best odds. Inside Knoxville, almost 6 in 10 homes sold under $350,000; in Alcoa, more than half; in Oak Ridge, about half. Seymour is worth a look too, with about 4 in 10 under $350,000.
$350,000 to $500,000: Powell, Halls, Maryville and Lenoir City all had median prices in this range.
$500,000 and up: Hardin Valley, Sevierville, Loudon and Farragut.
What the Numbers Can't Tell You
A ranking can't tell you your commute, what kind of house you want, or how you want your weekends to feel. Use this list as a starting point, not the answer. Here's what I'd actually do:
Pick the three towns that fit your budget.
Drive each one at 7:30 in the morning, and again on a Saturday afternoon.
Before you fall in love with a house, check which side of the city line it's on.
Trying to Pick a Town?
Text me three things at 865-548-7676: your budget, where you'll be working, and your top two must-haves. I'll send you the towns that fit, with what actually sold there.
Want to browse first? Search homes here, or read Best Places to Live in East Tennessee and our Knox County School Zones guide.
Sources: 4,508 closed single-family sales from the Knoxville MLS, May 1 to November 2, 2026 (medians). Areas are by mailing address or ZIP code (Farragut 37934 or Farragut address, Hardin Valley 37932, Powell 37849, Halls 37938), so most include homes outside city limits; Knoxville is limited to homes inside city limits. Tax per $100,000 uses each existing home's current tax bill in the MLS. Growth: U.S. Census estimates, 2020 to 2025, via the Tennessee State Data Center; Powell, Halls and Hardin Valley use unincorporated Knox County.