BestOnlineCollege.org is an advertising-supported website. Many of the school and program listings that appear on this site are from partners who compensate us, and this compensation may affect how, where, and in what order listings appear (such as featured placements). This compensation does not influence our editorial content, evaluations, or rankings, which are determined independently using publicly available data. We do not review or feature every school or program available in the marketplace. Our goal is to provide accurate, unbiased information so you can make informed decisions. Read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
Best Anthropology Schools Near Nashville, TN (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Nashville, Tennessee has 4 accredited schools offering anthropology programs. Nashville has a population of about 1,065,078. In Tennessee, the top-earning anthropology-related role is Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary at a median $98,160 annually (BLS, May 2025).
Closest Anthropology Schools to Nashville
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer anthropology programs near Nashville, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Nashville city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Nashville.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Tennessee schools on the Tennessee anthropology page.
Anthropology Wages Near Nashville
Nashville is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN metro area (BLS area code 34980). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Tennessee statewide.
Occupation
Median Wage
Source
COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Anthropologists and Archeologists
$60,780
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
$63,115
Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary
$98,160
TN statewide
$101,931
Archivists
$54,590
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
$56,687
Curators
$63,570
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
$66,012
Museum Technicians and Conservators
$52,480
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
$54,496
Social Science Research Assistants
$46,410
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
$48,193
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$77,240
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
$80,208
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
Nashville at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Regional Price Parity (US=100)
96.3 (below U.S. average)
BEA RPP 2024
Other Nashville-Area Cities With Anthropology Programs
How many accredited anthropology schools are near Nashville, TN?
Our directory has 4 accredited schools offering anthropology programs near Nashville. The closest is Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN (2.0 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is The University of the South (82.5 miles). 3 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
What are the highest-paying anthropology roles near Nashville?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying anthropology-related roles near Nashville are: Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary ($98,160), Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists ($77,240), Curators ($63,570). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Tennessee statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Brentwood instead of Nashville?
Brentwood, TN is 12.4 miles from Nashville and has its own set of local anthropology programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
