Marion County, TN

County Profile

29,250 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Marion County, TN.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 26% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity924th of 1,463 counties measured48
Schools1,297th of 1,377 counties measured12
GrowthTop 9% of 1,453 counties measured74
Housing affordabilityTop 18% of 1,462 counties measured81
ClimateTop 33% of 1,463 counties measured73
Physical resilience1,088th of 1,463 counties measured39
Access1,262nd of 1,463 counties measured56
Economic stability1,281st of 1,463 counties measured28
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.0% and median household income $61,824, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

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

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 26% of renter income and the median home is 2.7 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
29,250
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,824
Bottom 41% nationally
Density
58/sq mi
502.2 sq mi of land
Median age
43.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Marion County
Tennessee
Nearest major airport
HSV
74 mi · Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones Fld
Median home value
$195,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0%, lower than in 53% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.7% over the past year, to 12,200 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$78,02981st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$54,49039th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4842024 ACS 5-Year$61,824Bottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9732024 ACS 5-Year$32,016Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$52,049Bottom 33%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.1%Bottom 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year35.4 minBottom 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.1%Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year74.5%30th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202612,200Bottom 15%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.2%Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.7%Bottom 48%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202612,70315th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year68.4%Bottom 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.8%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.0%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.1%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.43.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.0% 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

202120222023202462k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,824 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 — Chattanooga, TN-GA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators8,120$45,330
Fast Food and Counter Workers7,770$27,140
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand7,730$37,830
Retail Salespersons7,020$31,460
Registered Nurses6,460$79,770
Cashiers5,530$28,440

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.

25% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 30% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
—
Math proficiency
24.9%
Bottom 10% in Tennessee
Reading proficiency
29.5%
Bottom 15% in Tennessee
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Jasper Elementary SchoolMarion County650—25%24%
Marion Co High SchoolMarion County543—12%42%
South Pittsburg ElementaryMarion County515—26%24%
Whitwell ElementaryMarion County482—47%32%
South Pittsburg High SchoolMarion County416—20%34%
Jasper Middle SchoolMarion County395—24%30%
Whitwell High SchoolMarion County298—8%37%
Whitwell Middle SchoolMarion County280—35%22%
Monteagle ElementaryMarion County233—22%12%
Richard Hardy Memorial SchoolRichard City183—32%32%
Central Prep AcademyMarion County0———

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 92.3, 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 Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area is up 52% over five years, and up 1.9% 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 $833 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.43% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,390, some 63% above the $853 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,390 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $55,600 a year, about 90% of the median household income here of $61,824.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $853 a month.

A median home at $195,200 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $71,173, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.3

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 Chattanooga, TN-GA 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
26.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,390
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$853
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$195,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Marion County’s median household income of $61,824, 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 Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure202392.3Top 36%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.9%22nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+51.5%77th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+119.8%90th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 38%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.5%73rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±302024 ACS 5-Year14,05853rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,263Bottom 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,734Bottom 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,390Bottom 30%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1092024 ACS 5-Year$853Top 46%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,1622024 ACS 5-Year$195,20055th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$462024 ACS 5-Year$83317th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,0702024 ACS 5-Year$71,173Bottom 37%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.43%9th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year26.3%Top 35%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2032024 ACS 5-Year54761st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%59th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%67th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3212024 ACS 5-Year2,18957th 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

74/ 100
Top 9% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, 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 3% since 2020, reaching 29,826 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 199 units authorized in 2025, 12% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 240 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Marion County gained about 1.4% 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 $78,029, above the $54,490 of households that moved out.

At 8.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
240
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.2
Top 12% nationally
Year over year
+13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202430k29k
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
+1.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
51%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$78,029
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$54,490
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hamilton County, TN 308 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Sequatchie County, TN 128 people · 8.3% of arrivals
  3. Jackson County, AL 110 people · 7.2% of arrivals
  4. Grundy County, TN 86 people · 5.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Hamilton County, TN 246 people · 20% of departures
  2. Jackson County, AL 151 people · 12% of departures
  3. Grundy County, TN 124 people · 10% of departures
  4. Sequatchie County, TN 115 people · 9.5% 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

2022202320242025248192
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−20%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 32°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 55.0 inches, including 3.6 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHATTANOOGA LOVELL AP, 23.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals55.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals3.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals32°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

39 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 47% of it. cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

TornadoModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Inland floodingElevated

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

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.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Marion County has a modeled homicide rate of about 7.1 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 19.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 27.1 per 100,000 residents in Marion County.

Homicide
7.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
19.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
27.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
19.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Marion County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

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.
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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones Fld at 74 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year85.3%Bottom 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle74 miBottom 12%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%Bottom 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones FldHSV74 mi10,001 ft
SmyrnaMQY80 mi8,038 ft
Nashville IntlBNA91 mi11,030 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
52
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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 September 26, 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.