county

Rhea County, TN

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

AI Overview

Rhea County is a small rural Tennessee county of 33,299 residents with a median age of 42 and a labor force participation rate of 53.7%, reflecting a workforce that skews older and smaller relative to its total population. Educational attainment is modest, with 17.4% holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 84.1% holding at least a high school diploma, while median worker earnings of $36,024 sit below the state average against a relatively low cost of living—median home values are $178,500 and median gross rent is $796 per month. The county posted 2.1% population growth over five years, carries a 6.3% unemployment rate and a 15.3% poverty rate, and records a GDP per capita of $67,470 alongside a median household income of $55,033.

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

Population

33,299

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$55,033

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.1% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone29,863 (87.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,505 (4.4%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,021 (3.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone830 (2.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone506 (1.5%)
  • Asian Alone241 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,096
  2. 2.Other Indo-European214
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)20
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic11
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)10

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,478

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$67,470

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$28,160

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

15.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)4,165
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,061
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,480
  4. 4.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities1,122
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services876

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,141
  2. 2.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations3,680
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations2,620
  4. 4.Service Occupations2,030
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,368

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.80×)3,788
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.60×)1,271
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.31×)285
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.14×)731
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.01×)949

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$178,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$796/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,450 (15.1%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,091 (11.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999947 (9.8%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999783 (8.1%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999676 (7.0%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999662 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

84.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

53.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,024

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

29.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone10,597 (79.5%)
  • Carpooled1,599 (12.0%)
  • Worked At Home871 (6.5%)
  • Walked101 (0.8%)
  • Bicycle81 (0.6%)
  • Other59 (0.4%)

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.