Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Walden’s subject grades are an A for incomes, health, and history; the weakest is a C− for cost of living. 65% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Walden, above both Tennessee’s towns (23%) and U.S. towns (29%). Only 8 of Tennessee’s 291 towns score higher on health. Walden’s trail density is 1.7 miles per square mile, where Tennessee’s towns sit at 0.2 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Only 12 of Tennessee’s 292 towns score higher on history. Walden has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Walden beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Walden | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.2% | 16.2% |
Bachman, Nathan L. SchoolWhere Walden’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Walden is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,293 in 1980, 1,981 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2025 and 6 maps from 1936 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Walden. Close and well known come first.
10 mi WaterfallRuby Falls
21 mi MountainLookout Mountain
7 mi Zoo & aquariumTennessee Aquarium
9 mi MuseumTennessee Valley Railroad Museum
4 mi National Military ParkChickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park972K visitors a year35 mi CaveEllison's CaveRuby Falls: Oydman (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lookout Mountain: Teke, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tennessee Aquarium: Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum: TVSRR at English Wikipedia. Photo by Jason Trew /TVSRR, Public domain · Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park: Lhughesw5, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Walden, 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 Walden.
The typical Walden home is worth about $700,000, up 2.7% in a year, about twice the Tennessee typical home. The median rent in Walden is $1,537 a month.
| Walden | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,537 a month | $947 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 82% | 66% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal Mountain Christian School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 99 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
16% of Walden adults get no exercise outside work. Walden beats the Tennessee average on 22 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 10% of Walden adults smoke cigarettes.
| Walden | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 28% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 20% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 16% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 19% | 14% |
| What stands out | Walden | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.2% | 16.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.7% | 13.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Walden for work: only 1% work in town. Walden’s median household income is $124,000. Only 7 of the 178 Tennessee towns we compare have a lower share of residents below the poverty line than Walden.
| Walden | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $124,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.1% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 17% | 9.5% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.2% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Walden has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 30° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The Pumpkin Patch | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
6 within 15 miles of the center of Walden
About 3 of every 100 Walden residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
Town in Tennessee, United States
Walden is a town located in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,981 at the 2020 census and up from 1,898 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee–Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Walden.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walden | — | — | C− | — | B | A |
| Fairmount | — | — | C | — | B | A |
| Signal Mountain | #2 | A | C− | A | B | A+ |
| Falling Water | — | — | B | — | B | B+ |
Walden, Fairmount and Falling Water have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Walden, Fairmount and Falling Water report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Walden with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 9.7 years of the area's median household income ($72,161 across the Chattanooga, TN-GA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
