Drive east on Highway 64 past Arlington, or out Poplar past Collierville, and within a few minutes the subdivisions give way to pasture, tree lines and long driveways. That’s Fayette County, and it’s where a growing number of my clients end up when they want more house, more land or a brand-new build for the money, while still working in Shelby County.
I’ve helped buyers and sellers across the county line for years, and the questions are always the same: What do homes cost out here? Which town fits me? How are the schools rated? What about property taxes and the drive? This guide answers all of that with fall 2026 data for the three places I get asked about most, Oakland, Piperton and Somerville, plus a few notes on Rossville and Gallaway. If you’re comparing against the Shelby County suburbs, keep my Germantown guide and Collierville guide open in another tab.
Fayette County at a Glance
Fayette County sits directly east of Shelby County and is part of the Memphis metropolitan area. It covers about 706 square miles, which makes it one of the larger counties in West Tennessee by land area, yet the 2020 Census counted just under 42,000 residents, with a 2025 estimate of about 45,000. Somerville is the county seat, but Oakland has grown into the largest town since the four-lane expansion of Highway 64 in the early 1990s opened the western end of the county to Memphis-area buyers.
A July 2026 Tennessee Lookout report, drawing on the state’s certified population figures, found that Fayette County posted the highest growth rate among West Tennessee counties from 2022 to 2026, at about 3.4 percent. That’s steady rather than explosive, and it matches what I see: new subdivisions filling in around Oakland, custom homes on acreage around Piperton and Rossville, and a courthouse-square downtown in Somerville.
Here’s the countywide market picture from Redfin for the three months ending June 2026: a median sale price of about $394,000, up 4.9 percent year over year; about $188 per square foot; a median of 43 days on market; 83 homes sold, up more than 50 percent from the same period a year earlier; and a sale-to-list ratio of 98.9 percent. Roughly 17 percent of homes sold above list price. Translation: prices are firm, buyers have more choices than they did in 2024 and 2025, and well-priced homes still move in about six weeks.
Oakland: New Construction and the Highway 64 Corridor
Oakland is the town most buyers picture when they think of Fayette County. It sits on Highway 64 about 30 miles east of downtown Memphis and roughly 10 miles east of Arlington, and it has grown from about 9,100 residents at the 2020 Census to an estimated 11,300 in 2026, according to World Population Review, a gain of roughly 24 percent in six years.
Housing: Oakland’s housing stock is dominated by homes built since 2000, and a large share of what’s for sale today is new construction. Homes.com listed more than a dozen active new-home communities in Fayette County as of September 2026, and most of them are in or around Oakland, including Twin Oaks, Waters of Hidden Springs, Gardens of Hidden Springs, Villas at Fair Oaks, Fairway Village, Valleybrook, Riverwood Gardens and Village Park. Base prices in those communities generally run from just under $300,000 to the low $500,000s, which is the reason so many buyers who are priced out of Collierville and Arlington look here first. Older Oakland neighborhoods off Highway 194 and Highway 196, along with homes on one to five acres just outside the town limits, round out the mix.
Prices: Movoto reported a median sold price of about $385,000 for Oakland in August 2026, at roughly $180 per square foot, with about 186 active listings. Zillow’s typical home value for Oakland was about $352,000 as of January 31, 2026, down 0.7 percent year over year, with a median list price near $377,000. One thing to note: Movoto showed days on market stretching to about 105 days in August 2026, up from 85 a year earlier. That figure is heavily influenced by builder inventory that stays listed while a home is under construction, so resale homes that are priced right typically go faster.
Schools: Oakland is served by Fayette County Public Schools. Oakland Elementary and West Junior High are the zoned schools for most Oakland addresses, and students continue to Fayette-Ware Comprehensive High School in Somerville. Niche’s 2026 ratings give Oakland Elementary, West Junior High and Fayette-Ware each an overall grade of C-, and GreatSchools ratings shown on Redfin range from 3/10 to 6/10 across the district’s elementary schools. Fayette Academy, a private PK-12 school in Somerville, carries a B from Niche. Ratings are one data point among many, so visit the schools yourself and confirm zoning for any specific address.
Commute: Downtown Memphis is 40 to 45 minutes via Highway 64 to I-40, or via Highway 194 south to I-269 and Highway 385. Collierville and Germantown employers are typically 20 to 30 minutes away via Highway 194 or Highway 196. The Arlington and Lakeland retail corridor is about 15 minutes.
Piperton: Acreage and Custom Homes Next Door to Collierville
Piperton borders Collierville and Shelby County to the west, and if you drive east on Poplar Avenue (Highway 57) past the Collierville town limits you’re in Piperton without noticing. It incorporated in 1974, counted about 2,800 residents in a 2024 special census, and has spent the last two decades deliberately using zoning to keep a rural feel: larger lots, preserved tree lines and open views.
Housing: Expect custom and semi-custom homes on one-acre-plus lots, along with true acreage properties. The city’s own neighborhood list includes Twin Lakes, a 200-acre community of about 154 homes minutes from Collierville; The Lakes of Greenbrier; Shaw’s Creek, with 148 wooded home sites; Piperton Preserve near Poplar and Keough Drive; and Covered Bridge, Forest Grove, Piperton Farms, Ridgewood Grove, Windbrook Estates and Madeline Farms. New construction in Shaw’s Creek was listing from the mid $600,000s to about $800,000 on Homes.com in September 2026.
Prices: Piperton is the highest-priced market in Fayette County. Redfin reported a median sale price of about $774,000 for the three months ending August 2026, up 7.6 percent year over year, at about $207 per square foot. Homes took a median of 48 days to sell, down from 79 days a year earlier, and 29 homes sold in the period, up from 18. The sale-to-list ratio was 98.7 percent, and about 11 percent of homes sold above list. Zillow’s typical home value was about $683,000 as of June 30, 2026, down 1.4 percent, with a median list price near $764,000. If you’ve been shopping Collierville’s larger-lot neighborhoods and want more land per dollar, Piperton is the natural next stop.
Schools: Piperton addresses are zoned to Fayette County Public Schools (Niche 2026 grades of C- for the district’s schools). Because Piperton sits so close to Collierville, buyers often compare Fayette County’s schools with Collierville Schools, which are a separate municipal district that requires a Collierville address. Confirm zoning for any specific address before you make it a deciding factor.
Commute: Highway 385 (now signed as part of I-269) runs along Piperton’s western edge, which puts downtown Memphis about 35 to 40 minutes away and the Collierville and Germantown office parks 10 to 20 minutes away. The Collierville Town Square is about 10 minutes.
Development rules: Piperton’s zoning is built around low-density residential development. Minimum lot sizes and septic requirements vary by district, so ask me for the current zoning map before you buy land here.
Somerville: The County Seat, Historic Homes and Real Acreage
Somerville anchors the eastern half of the county. Highway 64 runs through the middle of town as Fayette Street, the Fayette County Courthouse sits at the center, and the Loosahatchie River forms the northern boundary. The 2020 Census counted about 3,400 residents, up 10 percent from 2010, and downtown Memphis is about 41 miles west.
Housing: This is where Fayette County still feels like the country. You’ll find historic homes near the courthouse square, mid-century ranches on large in-town lots, and a deep supply of 5-, 10- and 20-plus-acre tracts with farmhouses, barns and room for horses. D.R. Horton’s Hedge Rose community was listing new homes from roughly $313,000 to $381,000 in September 2026, which brought a new-construction option to Somerville that didn’t exist a few years ago.
Prices: Zillow’s typical home value for Somerville was about $301,000 as of June 30, 2026, up 4.3 percent year over year, with a median list price of about $431,000. That gap between the typical value and the list price tells the story: the existing housing stock is modestly priced, while what’s coming to market skews toward newer builds and acreage. Zillow does not publish days-to-pending for Somerville because sales volume is low, so I lean on MLS data here more than anywhere else in the county.
Schools: Somerville is home to Fayette-Ware Comprehensive High School (Niche C-), East Junior High (Niche C-) and Buckley-Carpenter Elementary (Niche C-), plus Fayette Academy, the private PK-12 school Niche grades B. Confirm zoning for any specific address.
Commute: Plan on about 50 to 60 minutes to downtown Memphis via Highway 64 and I-40, and 30 to 40 minutes to Collierville. Buyers here are usually trading commute time for land, and many work remotely, in Jackson, or at employers along the I-40 corridor.
Rossville, Gallaway and What’s Coming
Rossville, south of Piperton along Highway 57, has become a spot for larger new homes; Regency Homebuilders’ Lafayette Station community was listing from about $500,000 to $600,000 in September 2026. Gallaway, on I-40 at exit 28 in the northwest corner of the county, is the site of West Tennessee’s first Buc-ee’s travel center. The Daily Memphian reported on September 20, 2026, that crews were rebuilding the I-40 ramps and right-of-way for the $50 million to $70 million project, with an opening now expected in 2027 and a Love’s Travel Stop planned across the interstate. Expect that interchange to attract additional retail and service development.
The biggest regional wildcard remains BlueOval City, Ford’s $5.6 billion truck and battery campus in neighboring Haywood County. The Tennessee Lookout reported in July 2026 that truck assembly is now planned for 2029 rather than 2025, and that hiring has been slower than originally projected. My take for buyers: don’t buy in Fayette County on the assumption that BlueOval will spike values next year, but do understand that the long-term employment picture along I-40 is something no other Memphis-area county has.
Fayette County Property Taxes: One of the Reasons Buyers Move Here
Tennessee assesses residential property at 25 percent of appraised value, and Fayette County’s rate is $0.931 per $100 of assessed value, according to the Fayette County Trustee. If you live inside a town, you also pay that town’s rate: Oakland’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen kept its rate at $0.6342 for the 2026 fiscal year (June 2025), and Piperton’s rate is $0.4051 according to the city. Somerville sets its own rate; check with the Town of Somerville for the current figure.
Here’s what that means on a $400,000 home: assessed value is $100,000, so the county portion is about $931 a year. Add Oakland’s rate and the combined bill is roughly $1,565; in Piperton it’s roughly $1,336; and on an unincorporated Fayette County address it’s the county portion alone. Compare that with the combined county and municipal rates in Shelby County, and the difference on a $400,000 home is often several thousand dollars a year. Tennessee also has no state income tax. Run your full monthly number, including insurance and any HOA, with my mortgage calculator, and confirm anything tax-related with a CPA, since the 2025 county reappraisal changed assessed values across the county.
Oakland vs. Piperton vs. Somerville: How to Choose
- Choose Oakland if you want a new or nearly new home in a subdivision, the shortest drive to Arlington and Lakeland, and the widest selection under $450,000 in the county.
- Choose Piperton if you want acreage or a custom home within 10 to 20 minutes of Collierville and Germantown, and your budget is comfortably above $600,000.
- Choose Somerville if land is the priority, you want a historic or in-town home at a lower price point, and a longer commute or remote work is workable.
Many of my clients tour Oakland and Arlington, or Piperton and Collierville, on the same day. If you’re also considering the Mississippi side, see my DeSoto County guide, and first-time buyers should start with my Memphis first-time home buyer guide, which covers THDA programs that work in Fayette County too.
Ready to Look at Homes in Fayette County?
I’m licensed in Tennessee and Mississippi, and I work Fayette County every week. Browse current listings, estimate your payment with the mortgage calculator, or reach out and tell me whether you’re after a new build in Oakland, acreage in Piperton or a farmhouse outside Somerville. Selling a Fayette County home? Start with a free home value estimate and I’ll follow up with MLS comps for your specific road and lot size, because out here the acreage matters as much as the square footage.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fayette County, TN Real Estate
How much does a home cost in Fayette County, TN in 2026?
Redfin reported a countywide median sale price of about $394,000 for the three months ending June 2026, up 4.9 percent from a year earlier, at about $188 per square foot. Prices vary widely by town: Movoto showed a median sold price of about $385,000 in Oakland in August 2026, Redfin showed about $774,000 in Piperton for the three months ending August 2026, and Zillow’s typical home value in Somerville was about $301,000 as of June 30, 2026.
Is Oakland, TN a good place to buy new construction?
Oakland has the largest concentration of new-home communities in Fayette County. Homes.com listed more than a dozen active new-construction communities in the county in September 2026, most of them in Oakland, with base prices generally from just under $300,000 to the low $500,000s.
How far is Fayette County from Memphis?
Oakland is about 30 miles east of downtown Memphis, roughly 40 to 45 minutes by car. Piperton is about 35 to 40 minutes from downtown and 10 to 20 minutes from Collierville and Germantown. Somerville is about 41 miles from downtown, or roughly 50 to 60 minutes.
What are property taxes like in Fayette County, TN?
Fayette County’s rate is $0.931 per $100 of assessed value, and Tennessee assesses homes at 25 percent of appraised value. Oakland adds $0.6342 and Piperton adds $0.4051 per $100, so a $400,000 home pays roughly $931 a year in unincorporated Fayette County, about $1,565 in Oakland and about $1,336 in Piperton before any exemptions. Check with the Fayette County Trustee for the bill on a specific property.
How are Fayette County, TN schools rated?
Fayette County Public Schools serve Oakland, Piperton and Somerville. Niche’s 2026 ratings give Fayette-Ware Comprehensive High School, Oakland Elementary, West Junior High, East Junior High and Buckley-Carpenter Elementary overall grades of C-, and Southwest Elementary a C+. Fayette Academy, a private PK-12 school in Somerville, is graded B by Niche. Confirm zoning for any specific address.
Will BlueOval City raise home values in Fayette County?
Ford’s BlueOval City campus is in neighboring Haywood County. The Tennessee Lookout reported in July 2026 that truck production has been pushed to 2029 and hiring has been slower than projected, so I advise buyers not to count on a near-term jump in values from the plant. Long term, it adds a major employer to the I-40 corridor that no other Memphis-area county has.
Ashley Wisch is a REALTOR® with eXp Realty, LLC, licensed in Tennessee (#345883) and Mississippi, ranked in the top 1% of individual agents in the United States by transactions (RealTrends Verified 2026: #243 nationally and #3 in Tennessee), a member of RealTrends’ “The Thousand,” and the #1 eXp Realty agent in Tennessee and Mississippi for 2025, serving Greater Memphis and DeSoto County. Market figures are drawn from Redfin, Zillow, Movoto and Homes.com as of June through September 2026, school ratings from Niche and GreatSchools for 2026, population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, World Population Review and the Tennessee Lookout, and tax rates from the Fayette County Trustee, the Town of Oakland and the City of Piperton as of 2025–2026; all change frequently, are provided for general information only, are not a guarantee of value or outcome, and should not be relied on as tax, legal, lending or investment advice. Consult a qualified professional for advice specific to your situation.
Ashley Wisch, REALTOR®
TN license #345883 · Licensed in Tennessee and Mississippi
eXp Realty, LLC · 888-519-5113 ext. 390
Brokered by eXp Realty, LLC, Nashville, TN
Equal Housing Opportunity
Featured photo: Oakland, TN by Thomas R Machnitzki, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
