county

Jefferson County, TN

Demographic and economic profile of Jefferson County, TN, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Jefferson County is a small East Tennessee county of roughly 55,800 residents that has grown 4.9% over five years, pointing to steady in-migration rather than stagnation. The labor force participation rate of 59.1% and unemployment rate of 5.4% reflect a moderately tight pool of workers, roughly 21% of whom hold a bachelor's degree or higher, with median worker earnings of $36,414 keeping labor costs comparatively low. Housing remains affordable at a median home value of $210,000 and median rent of $880 per month, and a 75.8% homeownership rate suggests a stable, established residential base rather than a transient workforce.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

55,835

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$66,114

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

44.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+4.9% since 2018

Jefferson County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone51,517 (90.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,545 (2.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,461 (2.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone1,142 (2.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone844 (1.5%)
  • Asian Alone318 (0.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,589
  2. 2.Other Indo-European160
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)152
  4. 4.Arabic117
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic66

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

4,087

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$31,500

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,953

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

11.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance5,495
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)4,432
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)3,618
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services2,941
  5. 5.Construction (Group)2,184

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations8,578
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations5,816
  3. 3.Service Occupations4,880
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,856
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations3,047

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Retail Trade (LQ 1.50×)4,265
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.31×)3,003
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.29×)1,961
  4. 4.Manufacturing (LQ 1.25×)3,244
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.24×)742

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$210,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$880/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

75.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9992,211 (13.4%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,925 (11.6%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9991,673 (10.1%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,589 (9.6%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,526 (9.2%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,206 (7.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

21.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

88.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

59.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,414

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

28.9 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

2.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone22,138 (83.8%)
  • Carpooled2,012 (7.6%)
  • Worked At Home1,836 (6.9%)
  • Walked314 (1.2%)
  • Public Transit65 (0.2%)
  • Other65 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.