Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 171,178, Murfreesboro does unevenly: it grades C+, 67th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns. Its schools rank ahead of 87% of Tennessee towns. The trade-offs: its police reported 687 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, and homes are expensive, about $424K for a typical one and 5 times the Nashville metro’s $85K median household income. Its National Register listings include Stones River National Battlefield (Boundary Increase) and Oaklands. Only 6 of the 177 Tennessee towns we compare have a lower median age than Murfreesboro. Murfreesboro is home to Middle Tennessee State University.
Where Murfreesboro beats most towns.
Oaklands| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Barfield Elementary | PK–5 | 969 |
| Blackman Elementary School | PK–5 | 954 |
| Salem Elementary School | PK–6 | 946 |
James M. Buchanan
Its 29 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Tennessee towns with a listing.
Census counts: 786 in 1830, 152,769 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1790 and 4 maps from 1916 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Murfreesboro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Murfreesboro, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Murfreesboro.
Murfreesboro fares better on crime within Tennessee than nationally, trades workers with Nashville and other neighbors and looks healthier within Tennessee than nationally.
33 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. Barfield Crescent Park, at 394 acres with 5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Murfreesboro | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barfield Crescent Park | 5 mi | 394 |
| 2. Richard Siegel Park | 2.7 mi | 120 |
| 3. Stones River National Battlefield | 1.9 mi | 224 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Rutherford County school district. Three of its 39 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackman Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,727 | A− |
| Blackman High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,301 | B |
| Central Magnet SchoolTop results in townGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 1,222 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests
At 37 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 69% of Tennessee’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 4,713 to 3,347 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Murfreesboro’s violent crime rate is 4 per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 in Tennessee’s towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns. Murfreesboro reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 81% report less. Murfreesboro’s property crime rate is 15.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Murfreesboro | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.4 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $2,323, against $1,442 across Tennessee, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Murfreesboro’s median rent is $1,481 a month, above both Tennessee’s towns ($944 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). 52% of households own their home in Murfreesboro. The typical Murfreesboro home is worth about $424,000, down 0.5% in a year, 28% above the Tennessee typical home.
| Murfreesboro | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,481 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 53% | 45% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Murfreesboro has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Murfreesboro is 89°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Murfreesboro has about as many jobs (69,601) as working residents, but only 20,078 people both live and work here.
28% of Murfreesboro working residents work locally. Jobs based in Murfreesboro grew to 69,601 in 2023, 13,717 more than in 2013. 16% of Murfreesboro workers work from home.
| Murfreesboro | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 12% | 8% |
| Work from home | 16% | 9.5% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.8% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Tennessee it is healthier than 83% of the 176 graded towns: much of Tennessee scores lower on these measures. Its widest gap with Tennessee is heart disease: 4.5% of its 116,904 adults have heart disease, against 7% statewide.
Murfreesboro beats the Tennessee average on 12 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 2. Only 9 of the 176 Tennessee towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have high blood pressure than Murfreesboro.
| Murfreesboro | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 41% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 14% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 17% |
| What stands out | Murfreesboro | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.5% | 7% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 5.8% | 8.6% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 69.9% | 76.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 72 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Murfreesboro.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Murfreesboro
About 10 of every 100 Murfreesboro residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
108,755 counted in 2010 and 152,769 in 2020; an estimated 171,178 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 12% since 2020, after 40.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
29 places in Murfreesboro on the National Register of Historic Places.
45 notable people were born in Murfreesboro.
City in Tennessee, United States
Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. The population was 152,769 at the 2020 census (estimated at 173,625 in 2025). Located 34 miles (55 km) southeast of downtown Nashville, it is part of the Nashville metropolitan area in Middle Tennessee. Settled in 1811, Murfreesboro was the state capital of Tennessee from 1818 to 1826. Today, it is the largest suburb of Nashville and the sixth-most populous city in the state. The city is both the center of population and the geographic center of Tennessee. Since the 1990s, Murfreesboro has been Tennessee's fastest-growing major city and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Murfreesboro i…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Murfreesboro.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murfreesboro | #67 | C+ | C− | C− | A | B |
| Rockvale | — | — | C | — | A | B− |
| Walterhill | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Smyrna | #86 | C | C+ | C− | A | C |
Rockvale has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Rockvale reports no FBI crime data of its own. Walterhill isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Murfreesboro with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Murfreesboro grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #67 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades B for health, C− for safety and A for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
45 notable people were born here, including James M. Buchanan and Sarah Childress Polk.
