Tennessee

Tennessee by the Numbers:
Key Statistical Data and Facts

Key Details

• Tennessee is the 15th most populous state in the U.S, with a population of 7,051,339 as of 2022. 
• The state is landlocked and shares boundaries with eight other states. 
• In 2022, the median value of owner-occupied housing in Tennessee was $193,700  
• The median household income was $59,695, 13.5% lower than the US average of $69,021. 
• On January 19, 2019, Republican Bill Lee took office as the 50th governor of Tennessee. 
• Marriage rates were 7.6 per 1000 persons in 2021, while divorce rates were 3.3 per 1000. 
• As of 2020, Tennessee citizens' life expectancy at birth was 73.8 years. 
• The violent crime rate increased to 672 per 100,000 persons in 2020, while the property crime rate decreased to 2,500. 

Tennessee Population Demographics

Set in the Southeastern United States, Tennessee is the 15th most populous state. According to 2022 census estimates, the Volunteer State is home to 7,051,339 residents. More than half of the state's population (60.9%) is made up of residents aged 18 years to 64 years. 

In comparison, residents aged 65 and over comprise 17%, while those under 18 years and below constitute 22.1%. Tennessee has a near-even gender split. As of 2022, females outnumber males by two percentage points (51% to 49%).

Note: A landlocked state, Tennessee shares borders with Missouri, Arkansas, Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi, tying the record with Missouri for the most with other states at eight.

Tennessee Housing

3,144,618 housing

According to the U.S. Census figures, as of 2022, Tennessee had 3,144,618 housing units with a 2.52-person per household rate.

66.9%

Owner-occupied units accounted for up to 66.9% of all housing units.

$193,700

From 2017 to 2021, the median value of owner-occupied housing stood at $193,700.

$1,337

Also, the median value for monthly owner mortgage costs over the same period was $1,337.

$951

While home renters paid a median gross rent of $951.

$170,200

Tennessee's median owner-occupied housing values varied across different counties, ranging from $170,200 in Shelby County to $136,800 in Pickett County.

Tennessee Racial Demographics

Other categories include persons who are two or more races at 2.2%. Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islanders alone are the smallest percentages of the listed ethnic composition at 0.1%. 73.1% of the population of Tennessee is white (not Latino or Hispanic), while just over 5% were foreign-born persons from 2017 to 2021.

Elections in Tennessee

Tennessee does not require voters to register by political party. However, as of 2023, party affiliation among adults in Tennessee leans towards the Republican party (48%) while Democrats account for 36%. 

Government positions in Tennessee typically alternate between members of the Republican and Democratic parties. For instance, between 1978 and 2022, Democrat candidates won four of the state's twelve gubernatorial elections, while Republican candidates won eight. Republicans won four elections consecutively from 2010 to 2022 after the 2006 Democratic victory.  

On January 19, 2019, Republican Bill Lee took office as the 50th governor of Tennessee after defeating Democrat Karl Dean in the gubernatorial election. He won a second term in 2022, defeating Dr. Jason Martin, the Democratic Party nominee. 

Of the eight senators elected in Tennessee between January 1977 and January 2019 for the class 1 senator and between January 1993 and January 2021 for the class 2 senator, only 2 were Democrats. This is the reverse of the prior eight elected senators (dating back to 1911 and 1973 for class 1 and 2 senator positions, respectively), where only two were Republicans.  

Between December 1994 and May 2023, Tennessee has been represented consecutively by six different Republican senators in the U.S. Senate. As of May 2023, Marsha Blackburn, who began her term on January 3rd, 2019, represented Tennessee with William F. Hagerty, whose term started on January 3rd, 2021. Marsha Blackburn is the first woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate. 

2020 Presidential Election 

Donald Trump, the incumbent and the Republican Party presidential candidate in the 2020 elections, won the votes cast by the residents of Tennessee. Trump had 1,852,475 of the 3,053,851 total votes cast, winning the state by 60.7 percentage points. This was over 1.5 times the votes of his closest challenger Joe Biden who (D) had 1,143,711 votes for 37.5 percentage points.  

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

Tennessee Voting Statistics

Based on the Tennessee Secretary of State records, there were 4,570,456 total registered voters in Tennessee as of the 2022 general elections. This included 326,693 inactive and 4,243,763 active voters. Voter turnout during the general elections was a record-breaking 68% (or 3,045,401). This voter turnout beat the previous record of 2,618,238 set in 2008 by a significant margin.  

General Election

How Educated is Tennessee

The majority of Tennesseans have a high school diploma. According to 2022 Census estimates, 88.7% of persons 25 years or older had a high school diploma, while people % had bachelor’s degrees or higher made up 29.0%. An average of 38.0% of Tennesseans 25 years and above have an associate degree. These figures show an upward trend in Tennessee from previous years but are still lower than the national average.  

High school graduations increased to 89.8% of students during the 2021 - 2022 school year, with 78 districts improving their graduation rates from the previous year. Of the students eligible for graduation, 95% did so on time in 2022. Graduation for high school students increased across the state by an additional 1,297 students to 64,580 graduating students in 2022. 

Although ethnicity and race-based differences in post-secondary education are shrinking in Tennessee, they are still significant. As of 2021, 20% of Hispanics, 22% of blacks, and 32% of white residents of Tennessee had a bachelor's degree. From 2015 to 2021, the highest increase for bachelors was from Hispanics (6.9%), while whites and blacks were 5.3% and 3.8%, respectively. 

Tennessee Employment Rate

As of May 2023, Tennessee's unemployment rate stood at 3.5%. The state had 3,204,400 employed persons out of a civilian labor force of 3,320,500. When viewed across sectors, the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities sector accounted for most jobs (over 683,000), ahead of the Professional and Business Services sectors, with 468,000. Government services accounted for almost 440,000 jobs, while the Education and Health Services industry employed up to 458,000 workers. Between 2022 and 2023, the Leisure and Hospitality sector recorded the most significant growth, increasing by 6.3% over 12 months. Conversely, the Financial Activities sector dipped by 0.2% during the same period.

Average Income in Tennessee

The median household income in Tennessee as of 2021 was $59,695, which is 13.5% lower than the U.S. average of $69,021. Families had a median income of $74,709, married couples had $89,329, and nonfamily households had $35,951. The median household income for families with one earner as of May 2022 was $53,188. Families with two or three earners had median incomes of $66,989 and $75,394, respectively.

The poverty rate in Tennessee as of 2021 was 13.6%. The highest poverty rate was for persons under 18 years, at 18.1%. The average weekly wage in Tennessee as of the first quarter of 2022 was $1,172. This was an 8.8% increase from the first quarter of 2021. Tennessee's weekly wage was ranked eleventh among all states and D.C. by percentage change and twenty-sixth by level. 

Families in Tennessee

Tennessee Marriage Rates

Tennessee Divorce Rates

The divorce rate in Tennessee as of 2021 was 3.3 per 1,000 persons. This is higher than the U.S. national divorce rate of 2.5 per 1000 based on 45 states and D.C. Tennessee's divorce rates from 1990 to 2021 show a gradual but sustained reduction from 1990 when it was highest at 6.5. In 2020, 22,359 divorces were recorded in Tennessee. The highest number was in Knox County with 1,642, at a rate of 3.5 per 1,000, while Madison County had the highest rate of 9.9 with 971 divorces. Tennessee has the eighth-highest divorce rate in the U.S. 

Life Expectancy in Tennessee

The life expectancy at birth for Tennessee as of 2020 was 73.8 years. This is five years lower than the U.S. average of 78.8 years and lower than the rate in 2019 when it was 75.6 years. In 2019, males in Tennessee had a life expectancy at birth of 72.8, while for females, it was 78.5. Life expectancy for Tennessee men was almost three years lower than for Tennessee women in 2019. This difference was the ninth highest in the U.S.

Senior citizens in Tennessee have a life expectancy of 18 years at age 65, the 45th place out of all states in the U.S. and D.C. Females had a life expectancy at 65 of 19.3 years, while males had a life expectancy of 16.5 years. The four leading causes of death in Tennessee since 2020 have been heart disease, cancer, Covid-19, and accidents.

Tennessee Crime Rates

As of 2011, the rate of violent crime offenses in Tennessee was 607.8 per 100,000 persons. This increased to 672.2 by 2020. Tennessee’s rate was higher than that of the U.S. during this period. There were 34,682 violent crime incidents in 2020, which reduced marginally (0.003%) to 34,585 in 2021.

Collated data on the property crime rates in Tennessee from 2010 to 2020 show a steady decline consistent with the national trend. However, Tennessee's figures continue to be above that of the U.S., with a rate of about 3,600 per 100,000 persons as of 2010 and just under 2,500 in 2020.

Tennessee Incarceration Rate

31,330 inmates

As of December 2019, Tennessee housed 31,330 inmates in 112 jails located in 95 counties.

26,349 prisoners

Also, in this same period, there were 26,349 prisoners in 11 state or private prisons under the jurisdiction of Tennessee correctional authorities.

62,472

Tennessee also has a community correction system with a population of 62,472 under probation and 11,058 on parole.

As of 2021, the most prevalent primary offense for inmates was homicide at 19.6%, followed by drug-related crimes at 18.1%. Assault and sex-related offenses were both at 13.6%.

Tennessee Bankruptcy Rate

2022

6,172 bankruptcy cases

There were 6,172 bankruptcy cases filed in Tennessee in 2022, a 7.3% increase from the previous year’s total of 5,753. Statistics from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, shows a reduction in the total number of bankruptcies filed since 2018 when there were 11,909 cases. Most cases filed in 2022 were Chapter 7 (3,297 cases), followed by Chapter 13 with 2,861. Chapter 11 was the lowest, with just 13 cases filed. As of 2021, Tennessee had the fourth highest bankruptcy rate in the U.S. at 221.34 per 100,000. 

Weird Laws in Tennessee

The state of Tennessee has its fair share of weird and strange laws. These include: