Buffalo Valley School · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Living in Baxter, TN: what to set up and who to call
Tap water in most of Baxter comes from Baxter Water Department, which has a clean five-year EPA record (about 20% of systems its size had a health-based violation) and a latest lead result of 1.0 ppb. Power in Baxter comes from Upper Cumberland E M C, a cooperative utility rather than a private company.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Baxter, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Baxter.
Power comes from Upper Cumberland E M C
Upper Cumberland E M C (Upper Cumberland E M C), a cooperative utility, serves all of Baxter. Its homes paid an average of 13.7¢ per kWh in 2025, about $168 a month (its average across Tennessee).
Start or move service: ucemc.com · (615) 735-2909
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Baxter Water Department
Baxter Water Department supplies Baxter: about 82% of residents live in its service area. Double Springs U.d. serves another 17%. About 8% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It buys treated surface water (EPA lists Cookeville Water Dept and Double Springs U.d. as sellers) and serves 7,781 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 80% of the 5,012 systems serving 3,301–10,000 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2026–Dec 2028, was 1.0 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s lower than 57% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. TN0000040.
4 home internet providers serve Baxter
100% of 737 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 100% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Lakes | Fiber | 100% | 8,000/8,000 |
| Spectrum | Cable, Fiber | 94% | 1,000/35 |
| Verizon | Fixed wireless | 89% | 300/20 |
| AT&T | Fixed wireless | 82% | 25/3 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
We don’t have Baxter’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Baxter.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Baxter is in Putnam County School District.
BSchool gradeSee Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Sep 2025; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Baxter is in ZIP code 38544
ZIP codes where Baxter residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Baxter | ZIP’s residents in Baxter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38544 | Baxter, TN | 100% | 21% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Baxter
Who supplies Baxter’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Baxter Water Department (EPA ID TN0000040). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 80% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 1.0 ppb (Jan 2026–Dec 2028), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Baxter?
Upper Cumberland E M C (Upper Cumberland E M C), a cooperative utility. Its homes paid about 13.7¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Baxter?
Twin Lakes, Spectrum, Verizon, AT&T (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Baxter?
38544. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Baxter in?
Putnam County School District.
How do I register to vote in Baxter?
In Tennessee you can register online until 30 days before Election Day, in person until 30 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 30 days before). Elections here are run by the Putnam County Election Commission. Check your registration at tnmap.tn.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.