Tennessee

Population 7,066,383

6 Sources Updated September 10, 2026

7.1M

Population

334,922,499 U.S.

$69,595

Median Income

$80,734 national

$561.2B

GDP (current $), change real

3.4%

Unemployment

4.0% national

Community Data / United States / Tennessee

County Map Demographics Economy Industry Concentration Housing Workforce Counties AI Insights

County Map

Click a county to view its economic profile

Demographics & Population

Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates

Household Income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Median Household

$69,595

Per Capita

$39,437

Mean Household

$96,820

Poverty Rate

13.8%

Age & Race / Ethnicity

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003

Cohorts

Under 18 · 22.2%

18-34 · 22.7%

35-54 · 25.2%

55-64 · 12.8%

65+ · 17.1%

Race & Ethnicity

White72.4%

Black or African American15.6%

Two or More Races7%

Some Other Race2.7%

Asian1.9%

American Indian and Alaska Native0.3%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander0.1%

Hispanic or Latino(any race)7.4%

Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.

Educational Attainment

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+

90%

High School+

National: 89.6%

+0.4 pts

31.1%

Bachelor's+

National: 35.7%

4.6 pts

11.7%

Graduate+

National: 14.1%

2.4 pts

Employment Overview

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

7,066,383

Population

3,527,571

Labor Force

Employed

3,362,616

Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2024 annual

3.4%

2025 is not shown for Tennessee: a state annual average needs all 12 months and the Bureau of Labor Statistics has published 11. County pages draw on the separate annual series and may show 2025.

Mean Commute 1 min below national avg

25.7 min

Work From Home vs 15.1% national

12.9%

Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.

Tennessee's median household income sits 14% below the national median. At 13.8%, its poverty rate runs 1.3 pts above the ~12.5% national level, relevant for federal funding eligibility narratives. Bachelor's-or-higher attainment of 31.1% trails the national average of 35.7%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates (released December 2025). Figures reflect the most recent Census release, older news reports may cite prior vintages.

Key Takeaways

Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, affecting retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base statewide.
Broadly in line with U.S. norms across income, poverty, education, and age.

Economy & Industry

Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis

$561.2B

Gross Domestic Product · 2024

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · CAGDP2 Regional GDP

91.870

Cost of Living - Below Avg

Top Private-Sector Industries by Employment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages 2025 Annual · Private sector only, with government shown below

Top private-sector industries by employment in Tennessee, with employment, share of top sectors, and average wage. Government employment is excluded and reported separately below the table.
Industry	Employment	% of Top Sectors	Avg Wage
1Health Care and Social Assistance	433,802	17.6%	$70,741
2Manufacturing	354,636	14.4%	$78,802
3Retail Trade	344,699	14.0%	$42,472
4Accommodation and Food Services	317,088	12.8%	$28,333
5Administrative and Support and Waste Management	211,116	8.5%	$53,853
6Transportation and Warehousing	203,757	8.2%	$71,812
7Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	178,826	7.2%	$109,907
8Construction	165,988	6.7%	$82,967
9Wholesale Trade	132,226	5.4%	$100,208
10Finance and Insurance	128,324	5.2%	$117,056

Government employment · context only

428,278

Public-sector jobs are not in the table above and are not part of any share or location quotient on this page. Both are measured on the private economy only, 2,837,182 private jobs in 2025: every location quotient divides by that total, and the % of Top Sectors column divides by the sectors listed above. Private employment is the standard basis for measuring industry concentration because government employment mostly serves the resident population rather than an outside market. Nothing on this card is expected to add up with the government figure.

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Key Takeaways

Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 433,802 workers (17.6% of the tracked sectors), at an average wage of $70,741. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 428,278 and is counted separately.
Economic scale: State GDP of $561.2B (2024).
Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $117,056 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $28,333, a 4.1x spread in the same economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP (CAGDP2).

Industry Concentration

Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.

Chart source: BLS QCEW · broad NAICS supersector · private sector · Location Quotient vs. national private-sector employment share. The same supersector axes appear on every profile, so the shape can be compared across geographies.

Concentrated Industries

List source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector · private sector · Location Quotient vs. national private-sector employment share.
Same source and same private-sector basis as the Top Industries table above. These sit at a finer level than the chart's supersector axes, so the two sets of values are not directly comparable. The sub-sector view surfaces specialization the supersector view masks, such as Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles here.

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

2.74x

1,964

Couriers and Messengers

2.46x

58,736

Electrical Equipment, Appliance Manufacturing

2.44x

22,462

Transportation Equipment Manufacturing

1.87x

69,072

Truck Transportation

1.74x

54,695

Paper Manufacturing

1.71x

12,831

Apparel Manufacturing

1.66x

2,794

Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing

1.64x

14,446

Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing

1.60x

23,829

Water Transportation

1.56x

2,274

Attraction Opportunities - Below-Average Industries

LQ < 0.5, below-average employment, screened against industrial power cost. Source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector

0.02x

Oil and Gas Extraction

57 employed

0.06x

Support Activities for Mining

317 employed

0.09x

Fishing, Hunting and Trapping

15 employed

0.13x

Web Search Portals, Libraries, and Archives

470 employed

0.15x

Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry

1,237 employed

0.19x

Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers

1,815 employed

0.26x

Pipeline Transportation

307 employed

0.31x

Monetary Authorities - Central Bank

135 employed

Screened on industrial power cost only. Industrial electricity in Tennessee costs 6.74¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025). Land area and freight access are not assessed at state level. Source: EIA.

Key Takeaways

Top specialization: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles concentrates at 2.74x the national norm.
Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base across the state.
Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment.

Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.

Industry Employment Composition

Tennessee's Top Sectors by Workforce Share

Each rectangle's area is proportional to that sector's share of the top private supersectors. Hover for exact employment.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW 2025 Annual · Private sector, NAICS supersectors

Housing & Affordability

Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026

Housing Overview

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064

$286,700

Median Home Value vs 2019

$1,189

Rent/Mo

66.9%

Owner-Occ

10.2%

Vacancy

4.1x

Home Value to Income Ratio

vs. ~4.1x national average

HUD Fair Market Rents (Statewide)

Renter-household-weighted average across 95 Fair Market Rent areas · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070

Studio

$1,125/mo$638 to $1,507

1 Bedroom

$1,183/mo$705 to $1,578

2 Bedroom

$1,363/mo$925 to $1,730

3 Bedroom

$1,759/mo$1,109 to $2,211

4 Bedroom

$2,051/mo$1,225 to $2,696

30% of monthly median renter household income (~$1,169/mo, from a renter median of $46,745) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.

Measured: 44.3% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 21.2% pay 50% or more.

Key Takeaways

In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 4.1x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
Elevated vacancy: 10.2% vacancy rate; potential redevelopment opportunity.
Affordable rent tiers: 1 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $46,745 can pay without cost burden (~$1,169/mo), and 44.3% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

Source: Census ACS housing tables.

Workforce Pipeline

Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition

Labor Market Overview

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301

4,293,467

Working Age (18-64) vs 2019

vs 2019

Mean Commute 1 min below national avg

25.7 min

Work From Home vs 15.1% national

12.9%

Education & Talent Pipeline

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard

Bachelor's+

31.1%

HS Diploma+

90%

6 Largest Institutions by Credentials Awarded

Degrees, certificates, and other credentials awarded last academic year (College Scorecard).

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville 8,049/yr

Vanderbilt University 5,142/yr

University of Memphis 4,862/yr

Middle Tennessee State University 4,677/yr

East Tennessee State University 3,604/yr

The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga 2,551/yr

Aging Workforce

Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables

21.1%

55-64 of working-age population (18-64)

Same cohort is 12.8% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.

Elevated retirement risk, above the 20% threshold. Succession planning recommended.

Workforce by Occupation

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+

Management / Professional

39.3%

Service

15.3%

Sales & Office

20.3%

Construction / Maint.

8.7%

Production / Transport

16.4%

Bars are drawn on a 0% to 40% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 3,362,616 employed workers.

Key Takeaways

Healthy participation: 64.5% of the population aged 18+ is in the labor force, reflecting a steady, available workforce statewide.

Source: ACS workforce data.

County Profiles

95 counties in Tennessee

AI Insights

Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 6 federal data sources.

Sample AI Insight

Tennessee shows emerging potential for funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles attraction, with a 2.74x concentration and 1,964 jobs in this sub-sector.

Cluster depth across funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles, couriers and messengers, and electrical equipment, appliance manufacturing creates supply-chain attraction leverage, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.

Industry Shift Analysis

Manufacturing Automation Risk

High

Healthcare Growth Forecast

+4.2% CAGR

Remote Work Migration

67/100

Prospect Match Scores

Advanced Manufacturing

92/100

Life Sciences

84/100

Data Centers

71/100

Illustrative example

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Data Sources

Updated from official federal government data.

Census ACS 5-Year2024

BLS QCEW2025

BEA Regional GDP2024

Census CBP2024

HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026

USAspending.govFY2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Key economic and demographic figures for Tennessee, from federal data sources.

What is the population of Tennessee?

7,066,383 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the median household income in Tennessee?

$69,595 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the unemployment rate in Tennessee?

3.4% (2024 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).

What is the GDP of Tennessee?

$561.2B (BEA CAGDP2 (Regional)).

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