Tennessee · NCES CCD 2024-25

Best School Districts in Tennessee

Top 50 districts ranked by average school quality score, based on student-teacher ratios, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.

50
Districts ranked
345,342
Students enrolled
48/100
Avg quality score
B-
Top grade

The ranking in one line

Franklin Ssd in Franklin leads Tennessee's districts with an average school quality score of 65.3/100 across 8 schools.

65.3/100
top district score (grade B-)
8
schools in Franklin Ssd
3,190
students in the top district
48/100
average across the top 50
# District GradeAvg Quality
1 Franklin Ssd Franklin B- 65.3
2 Bradford Bradford C 59
3 Hollow Rock - Bruceton Bruceton C 57
4 Collierville Collierville C 55.7
5 Mckenzie Mckenzie C- 53.3
6 West Carroll Sp Dist Atwood C- 53.3
7 Williamson County Franklin C- 51.3
8 Henry County Paris C- 51.3
9 Gibson Co Sp Dist Dyer C- 51
10 Coffee County Manchester C- 50.9
11 Obion County Union City C- 50.6
12 Clay County Celina C- 50.3
13 Milan Milan C- 50.3
14 Blount County Maryville D 49.9
15 Grundy County Altamont D 49.3
16 Dyersburg Dyersburg D 49.3
17 Lauderdale County Ripley D 48.6
18 Henderson County Lexington D 48.4
19 Greeneville Greeneville D 48.4
20 Lakeland Lakeland D 48
21 Rutherford County Murfreesboro D 47.9
22 White County Sparta D 47.5
23 Overton County Livingston D 47.5
24 Germantown Germantown D 47.4
25 Lexington Lexington D 47
26 Warren County Mcminnville D 46.9
27 Athens Athens D 46.8
28 Hickman County Centerville D 46.6
29 Weakley County Dresden D 46.5
30 Hamilton County Chattanooga D 46.4
31 Benton County Camden D 46.3
32 Rhea County Dayton D 46.1
33 Bartlett Bartlett D 46.1
34 Van Buren County Spencer D 46
35 Johnson City Johnson City D 45.8
36 Crockett County Alamo D 45.8
37 Greene County Greeneville D 45.6
38 Cocke County Newport D 45.4
39 Johnson County Mountain City D 45.4
40 Roane County Kingston D 45.2
41 Hardeman County Schools Bolivar D 45
42 Giles County Pulaski D 44.9
43 Lake County Tiptonville D 44.7
44 Franklin County Winchester D 44.5
45 Sumner County Gallatin D 44.5
46 Murfreesboro Murfreesboro D 44.5
47 Oneida Oneida D 44.3
48 Maryville Maryville D 44.1
49 Mcnairy County Selmer D 44.1
50 Arlington Arlington D 44

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best school districts in Tennessee? ▼

The top-ranked district in Tennessee is Franklin Ssd in Franklin with 3,190 students across 8 schools. Average quality score: 65.3/100. Rankings are based on average school quality scores from NCES data.

How are district rankings calculated? ▼

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be ranked.

How many school districts are in Tennessee? ▼

Tennessee has 50+ school districts serving 994,264 students. The statewide average student-teacher ratio is 15.6:1.

Explore More for Tennessee

All Schools → Best Schools → Highest Spending → Funding Equity → Absenteeism Data →

Methodology

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be included. This measures school-level resources, not test scores. Higher average scores indicate districts where schools generally have smaller classes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.