East Lake, Chattanooga: homes, schools, parks and commute

Last checked Oct. 18, 2026. Sources: the City of Chattanooga’s GIS map layers (neighborhood association boundaries and registry, ZIP codes, parks); Plan Chattanooga, the city’s comprehensive plan; Hamilton County Schools’ 2026-27 school zones map; the Tennessee Department of Education’s 2024-25 letter grades; Zillow Research; CARTA’s published schedule data; and OpenStreetMap.

East Lake is a South Chattanooga neighborhood along Rossville Boulevard, built around East Lake Park and its spring-fed pond. The city’s neighborhood map draws it at about 1.4 square miles, where about 5,500 people lived in the 2020 census.

What this means for you

• Zoned high school: The Howard School for the whole neighborhood (graded D for 2024-25).
• Home value: $121,740 in ZIP code 37407 in September 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
• Nearest interstate exit: I-24 exit 181A (U.S. 41 south toward East Ridge), about 1.1 miles by road from East Lake Park.

Part of our Chattanooga neighborhoods guide.

Where it is

This guide follows the East Lake boundary on the City of Chattanooga’s neighborhood association map. Rossville Boulevard is its main street, running north to south, with Dodds Avenue, Fourth Avenue and East 37th Street among its other through streets. About 98% of residents are in ZIP code 37407 and the rest in 37404.

Plan Chattanooga, which the City Council adopted on Sept. 22, 2026, places East Lake in Area 4, South Chattanooga, with St. Elmo and Alton Park. The plan’s history says the neighborhood “was founded in 1902,” that many of its first residents worked in a nearby mill, and that East Lake Park held the city’s first zoo, the Oxley Zoo. It calls the park “a lively part of the neighborhood” with a naturally fed spring known as the East Lake Duck Pond. The new plan replaces the older Rossville Boulevard Community Plan for this part of the city.

Schools

From the Hamilton County Schools 2026-27 attendance zones, weighted by 2020 census population. Grades are each school’s overall grade on Tennessee’s 2024-25 letter-grade report card:

Clifton Hills, East Lake Elementary and East Lake Academy all stand inside the neighborhood, according to the federal NCES directory. Check an address in the district’s School Zone Finder. More in our schools guide.

Home values

The typical home value in ZIP code 37407 was $121,740 in September 2026, down 6.9% from $130,777 in September 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. The index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, not a sale price, and 37407 reaches beyond East Lake. The City of Chattanooga figure was $314,999, down 1.3%. More in our home prices guide.

Parks and trails

From the City of Chattanooga’s parks map layer:

• East Lake Park, 3000 E. 34th St., with the spring-fed pond.
• East Lake Center Park, 3601 Dodds Ave.

The city’s trail layer maps no trail inside the boundary. More in our parks and trails guide and kids activities guide.

Getting around

• Interstate: I-24 exit 181A (U.S. 41 south toward East Ridge) is about 1.1 miles by road from East Lake Park and exit 181 about 1.7 miles.
• Downtown: about 4.9 miles by road to Miller Park.
• Airport: about 8.4 miles by road to Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA).
• Bus: CARTA Route 9 East Lake has 27 stops in the neighborhood and Route 13 Rossville 13, in CARTA’s current schedule data.

Distances are measured on the OpenStreetMap road network with the OSRM routing engine, from East Lake Park; exit distances run to the end of the off-ramp. They are distances, not drive times. More in our getting around guide.

Neighborhood groups

The city’s neighborhood association registry lists the East Lake Neighborhood Association for the area, which straddles more than one City Council district. It is a voluntary group, not a homeowners association with dues on the deed.

Groceries and everyday stores

OpenStreetMap shows Supermercado, 3515 Rossville Blvd., inside the neighborhood. The nearest large supermarket it maps is Food City, 3715 Ringgold Road, about 0.7 mile east of the boundary.

How we drew this area

The area is the City of Chattanooga’s “East Lake” neighborhood association boundary. School zones and ZIP codes come from 2020 census block points inside it, checked Oct. 18, 2026. The aerial photograph is from the USDA’s National Agriculture Imagery Program, taken in October 2021. Store and road data are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Frequently asked questions

What high school is East Lake in Chattanooga zoned for?

The Howard School, 2500 S. Market St., for the whole neighborhood, with East Lake Academy of Fine Arts for grades 6 to 8, according to Hamilton County Schools’ 2026-27 zone map. Howard was graded D on Tennessee’s 2024-25 report card.

What elementary school serves East Lake?

Clifton Hills Elementary covers about 59% of residents and East Lake Elementary the rest. Both were graded C for 2024-25. Check the address in the district’s School Zone Finder.

What ZIP code is East Lake, Chattanooga?

Nearly all of East Lake is in 37407. Zillow’s typical home value for 37407 was $121,740 in September 2026, down 6.9% from a year earlier.

Is East Lake a good place to live?

Here are the facts. East Lake is a 1.4-square-mile South Chattanooga neighborhood with East Lake Park and two CARTA routes, about a mile from I-24, zoned for The Howard School (graded D for 2024-25); the typical home value in ZIP 37407 was $121,740 in September 2026, according to Zillow.