The book's checklist
- Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.9% below the U.S. average in the Cleveland metro area.
- More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
- A safer neighborhood277 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 5.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 17.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
- Schools in town22 public schools: 16 elementary, 3 middle, 2 high schools and 1 other.
- A hospital close byAffiliate of Vitruvian Health is in town and has an emergency room.
- Within reach of a big cityKnoxville is about 75 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 Cleveland 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.
For a lifetime
Homes and money
- Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
- $272,200U.S.: $332,700
- Home prices since then
- Up 21%Bradley County, 2022 to 2025
- Typical rent, with utilities
- $1,034 a monthU.S.: $1,413
- Typical household income
- $58,559U.S.: $80,734
- Homes owned by the people living in them
- 48%U.S.: 65%
- Typical property tax bill
- $1,576 a yearTennessee: $1,442
- Homes built before 1940
- 6%U.S.: 12%
- Homes built since 2010
- 16%U.S.: 11%
- Vacation and seasonal homes
- 1%U.S.: 3%
- Everyday prices
- 88.1U.S. average = 100 (the Cleveland metro area)
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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Cleveland metro area, not Cleveland 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
- 51,1722020: 47,927
- Median age
- 36.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
- Age 65 and older
- 19%U.S.: 17%
- Under 18
- 21%U.S.: 22%
- Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
- 30%U.S.: 36%
- Moved here from another county or state in the past year
- 8%U.S.: 6%
- College students
- 9%share of all residents
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 (26%); manufacturing (16%); retail (12%)
- Unemployment rate
- 6%U.S.: 5%
- Average commute
- 21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
- Work from home
- 10%U.S.: 15%
- Below the poverty line
- 17%U.S.: 12%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Health care
Nearest emergency room: Affiliate of Vitruvian Health, Cleveland, TN, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 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
22 public schools in Cleveland, run by Bradley County and Cleveland.
Colleges in or next to town: Lee University (1,000 to 4,999 students); Cleveland State Community College (1,000 to 4,999 students); Pentecostal Theological Seminary (under 1,000 students).
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
- 76%U.S.: 76%
- Homes with any internet subscription
- 90%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
- 29°F
- July average high
- 89°F
- Days 90°F or hotter
- 36 a year
- Nights at or below freezing
- 80 a year
- Rain and melted snow
- 57.6 inches a year
- Snow
- 1 inches a year
- Elevation
- 822 feet
Weather station: Cleveland Fltr Plt (5 miles away). 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: Chattanooga, Knoxville.
Bradley County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).
For a day
18 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Centenary Avenue Historic District (Additional Documentation), the Cleveland Commercial Historic District, Hardwick Farms and the Ocoee Street Historic District.
National Park Service sites within about an hour:
- Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park22 miles
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail52 miles
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park54 miles
- Russell Cave National Monument55 miles
- Manhattan Project National Historical Park58 miles
Campus life. Check Lee University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.
Read about Cleveland's history on Wikipedia.
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
- Hopewell, TN2,600 people, 5 miles
- South Cleveland, TN7,500 people, 5 miles
- Wildwood Lake, TN3,500 people, 6 miles
- Benton, TN1,500 people, 12 miles
- Collegedale, TN11,500 people, 13 miles
- Apison, TN4,300 people, 14 miles
Smaller places
- East Cleveland, TN (unincorporated)1,934 people, 2 miles
- McDonald, TN (unincorporated)712 people, 8 miles
- Ocoee, TN (unincorporated)208 people, 10 miles
- Charleston, TN923 people, 10 miles
- Calhoun, TN571 people, 11 miles
- Ooltewah, TN (unincorporated)578 people, 13 miles
- Conasauga, TN (unincorporated)128 people, 15 miles
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
- 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
- FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
- 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
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
- National Park Service, park unit boundaries
- USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
- 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.