Jackson, TN

Metro Area Profile

181,719 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Jackson, TN metropolitan area.

63out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 47% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity268th of 379 published metros45
GrowthTop 35% of 821 published metros60
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 822 published metros96
ClimateTop 20% of 822 published metros75
Physical resilienceTop 47% of 822 published metros58
Access590th of 822 published metros64
Economic stability478th of 822 published metros45
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 4.2% and the Opportunity signal places Jackson in the bottom 29%.

476 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 20% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.0 times that income.

At a glance

Population
181,719
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,177
Bottom 30% nationally
Density
106/sq mi
1711.2 sq mi of land
Median age
38.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Jackson, TN
Nearest major airport
BYH
61 mi · Arkansas Intl
Median home value
$185,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 49% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 1.2% over the past year, to 77,996 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,807$61,177Bottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$915$32,377Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.4%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.6 minTop 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher23.7%Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment77,996Bottom 34%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.1%Top 25%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.2%Bottom 34%June 2026
Labor force81,400Bottom 33%June 2026
Labor force participation60.2%Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$53,290Bottom 8%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,790Bottom 18%2025 OEWS
Metro employment84,530Bottom 42%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 35%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Top 49%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.03.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Jackson, TN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,410$36,710
Retail Salespersons2,390$30,990
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,370$26,360
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,280$31,120
Registered Nurses1,930$75,610
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators1,890$40,340

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $997 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
19.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$997
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$185,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.03Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate65.8%Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8980,121Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$27$997Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,401$185,300Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.6%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.6%Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
60/ 100
Top 35% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 183,680 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
476
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
+13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024184k181k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 29°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.9 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station JACKSON MCKELLAR AP, 11.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation53.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

58 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, tornado and landslide.

EarthquakeModerate
TornadoModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, lightning, ice storm, strong wind, drought, inland flooding, hurricane, winter weather, wildfire, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 61 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Arkansas IntlBYH61 mi11,602 ft
Millington/MemphisNQA62 mi8,001 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM79 mi11,120 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
63
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

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