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 | Grade | Avg 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
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.