Fayette County, TN

County Profile

43,267 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Fayette County, TN.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 47% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 34% of 1,463 counties measured63
Schools1,377th of 1,377 counties measured0
GrowthTop 5% of 1,453 counties measured78
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 1,462 counties measured75
ClimateTop 18% of 1,463 counties measured76
Physical resilience841st of 1,463 counties measured53
AccessTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured87
Economic stabilityTop 42% of 1,463 counties measured66
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $88,456, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 422 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 96% on the prior year.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.5 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
43,267
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$88,456
Top 11% nationally
Density
61/sq mi
704.1 sq mi of land
Median age
47.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Fayette County
Tennessee
Nearest major airport
NQA
28 mi · Millington/Memphis
Median home value
$340,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.6%, lower than in 70% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.6% over the past year, to 19,987 employed residents.

Median household income of $88,456 is higher than in 89% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$79,23082nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$70,25577th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,0122024 ACS 5-Year$88,456Top 11%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,7402024 ACS 5-Year$43,490Top 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$80,913Top 9%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year36.4 minBottom 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.3%Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.5%50th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202619,987Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 48%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.6%Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202620,72831st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.2%Top 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%42nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.6%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%75th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.72.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.6% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202488k70k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $88,456 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Memphis, TN-MS-AR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand37,750$39,510
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers19,460$63,070
Retail Salespersons17,050$32,580
Fast Food and Counter Workers15,320$27,490
Registered Nurses13,760$81,500
Stockers and Order Fillers12,200$37,280

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

20% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 24% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
—
Math proficiency
19.6%
Bottom 1% in Tennessee
Reading proficiency
23.6%
Bottom 1% in Tennessee
All 8 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Fayette Ware Comprehensive High SchoolFayette County Public Schools724—3%28%
Oakland ElementaryFayette County Public Schools621—40%31%
Buckley-Carpenter Elementary SchoolFayette County Public Schools491—19%17%
West Junior High SchoolFayette County Public Schools340—15%16%
Southwest ElementaryFayette County Public Schools294—32%27%
East Jr. High SchoolFayette County Public Schools243—9%13%
La Grange Moscow ElementaryFayette County Public Schools196—22%22%
Barbara Ward Cooper Education CenterDepartment Of Children's Services Education Division32———

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Tennessee’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.9, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area is up 33% over five years, and up 1.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,140 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.33% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,274, some 41% above the $902 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,274 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $51,000 a year, about 58% of the median household income here of $88,456.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $902 a month.

A median home at $340,800 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $97,995, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
91.9

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
26.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,274
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$902
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$340,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Fayette County’s median household income of $88,456, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure202391.9Top 34%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.8%20th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+33.1%12th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+87.8%38th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.5Bottom 18%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.4%87th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±582024 ACS 5-Year18,49462nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,154Bottom 30%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,683Bottom 39%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,274Bottom 38%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$792024 ACS 5-Year$902Bottom 45%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,5022024 ACS 5-Year$340,80086th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$592024 ACS 5-Year$1,14030th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,5792024 ACS 5-Year$97,995Top 15%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.33%4th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year26.5%Top 37%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1082024 ACS 5-Year21738th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.8%23rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2762024 ACS 5-Year1,28439th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

78/ 100
Top 5% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 6% since 2020, reaching 44,476 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 356 units authorized in 2025, up 60% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 44,476 residents in 2024, up 0.9% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 422 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Fayette County gained about 2.0% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $79,230, above the $70,255 of households that moved out.

At 9.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
422
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.8
Top 8% nationally
Year over year
+96%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202444k42k
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. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+2.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
27%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$79,230
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$70,255
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Shelby County, TN 1,726 people · 57% of arrivals
  2. DeSoto County, MS 150 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  3. Hardeman County, TN 127 people · 4.2% of arrivals
  4. Tipton County, TN 71 people · 2.3% of arrivals
  5. Haywood County, TN 47 people · 1.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Shelby County, TN 1,012 people · 44% of departures
  2. Hardeman County, TN 138 people · 6.0% of departures
  3. DeSoto County, MS 119 people · 5.1% of departures
  4. Tipton County, TN 73 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Haywood County, TN 54 people · 2.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025462222
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−23%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 29°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 55.5 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HOLLY SPRINGS 4 N, 25.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals55.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

53 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and tornado, with earthquake alone responsible for 43% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeModerate
TornadoModerate
Ice stormModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, cold wave, wildfire, drought, inland flooding, hurricane, strong wind, hail, winter weather, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Death-certificate rates
The CDC publishes these rates by county, and no county figure could be attached to this page.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Millington/Memphis at 28 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year90.7%Top 21%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle28 miTop 39%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%Top 25%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Millington/MemphisNQA28 mi8,001 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM34 mi11,120 ft
Arkansas IntlBYH61 mi11,602 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
60
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.