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Towns / Tennessee

Chapel Hill, Tennessee

Chapel Hill is a small town of about 1,900 people in Marshall County, Tennessee. It's growing fast: its population is up 11% since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.1 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Nashville, is about 38 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom town

Population
1,905
up 11% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$311,100
Marshall County prices up 17% since 2022
Household income
$75,441
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Tennessee
84.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
12 miles
Lewisburg, TN
To Nashville
38 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 15.1% below the U.S. average in the parts of Tennessee outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 9.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMarshall Medical Center in Lewisburg, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNashville is about 38 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Chapel Hill meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Boom town. The population is up 11% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$311,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 17%Marshall County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$75,441U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
86%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,565 a yearTennessee: $1,442
Homes built before 1940
8%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
22%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
84.9U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Tennessee outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 17% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Tennessee outside metro areas, not Chapel Hill alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,9052020: 1,721
Median age
40.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
16%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
22%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
20%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (19%); construction (15%); retail (15%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
4%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Marshall Medical Center, Lewisburg, TN, about 12 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital, Shelbyville, TN, about 15 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Chapel Hill, run by Marshall County.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Tennessee's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
87%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
93%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
26°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
31 a year
Nights at or below freezing
92 a year
Rain and melted snow
59.4 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
689 feet

Weather stations: Christiana 5W (13 miles away) and Shelbyville Water Dept (15 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Marshall Medical Center, Spring Hill, Nashville.

Marshall County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Stones River National Battlefield22 miles
  • Natchez Trace Parkway25 miles

Read about Chapel Hill's history on Wikipedia.

Know Chapel Hill?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Unionville, TN (unincorporated)1,275 people, 7 miles
  • Eagleville, TN964 people, 8 miles
  • Rockvale, TN (unincorporated)1,611 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.