McMinn County, TN

County Profile

54,884 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for McMinn 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.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 31% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,241st of 1,463 counties measured36
Schools959th of 1,377 counties measured35
GrowthTop 43% of 1,453 counties measured54
Housing affordabilityTop 23% of 1,462 counties measured80
ClimateTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured76
Physical resilience820th of 1,463 counties measured54
Access1,063rd of 1,463 counties measured69
Economic stability1,103rd of 1,463 counties measured40
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.5% and the Opportunity signal places McMinn County in the bottom 15%.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times what its owners earn.

A typical July reaches 88°F and a typical January falls to 28°F, on thirty-year normals.

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
54,884
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,470
Bottom 40% nationally
Density
128/sq mi
430.1 sq mi of land
Median age
42.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
McMinn County
Tennessee
Micro area
Nearest major airport
TYS
44 mi · Mc Ghee Tyson
Median home value
$211,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% — higher than in all but 35% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 19,660 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$53,26633rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$46,94514th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,8932024 ACS 5-Year$61,470Bottom 40%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6172024 ACS 5-Year$32,494Bottom 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$46,444Bottom 11%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.9 minBottom 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.6%Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.1%90th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202619,660Bottom 30%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.6%Bottom 30%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.0%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202620,58031st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.8%Bottom 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.5%Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.8%23rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.23.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% 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

202120222023202461k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,470 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.

33% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 35% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
—
Math proficiency
33.2%
Bottom 33% in Tennessee
Reading proficiency
35.2%
Bottom 38% in Tennessee
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
McMinn High SchoolMcMinn County1,272—17%41%
Athens City PrimaryAthens657———
Riceville ElementaryMcMinn County641—48%34%
Central High SchoolMcMinn County583—12%44%
Athens City IntermediateAthens572———
Mountain View ElementaryMcMinn County566—35%31%
Englewood ElementaryMcMinn County565—50%38%
Niota ElementaryMcMinn County523—25%23%
Athens City Middle SchoolAthens519—47%39%
Etowah ElementaryEtowah332—45%31%
Calhoun ElementaryMcMinn County317—48%43%
E K Baker ElementaryMcMinn County307—31%18%

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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee is up 58% over five years, and up 3.6% 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 $748 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.35% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $926, some 15% above the $803 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $926 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $37,000 a year, about 60% of the median household income here of $61,470.

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 $803 a month.

A median home at $211,800 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $72,488, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$926
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$803
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$211,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against McMinn County’s median household income of $61,470, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee’s figure2026 Q2+3.6%53rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee’s figure2026 Q2+58.3%93rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee’s figure2026 Q2+130.8%96th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 32%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.8%56th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±582024 ACS 5-Year24,13769th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$845Top 33%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,151Top 7%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$926Top 11%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$502024 ACS 5-Year$803Top 35%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,0272024 ACS 5-Year$211,80060th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$292024 ACS 5-Year$74813th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,5912024 ACS 5-Year$72,488Bottom 41%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.35%4th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year26.9%Top 41%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2282024 ACS 5-Year41754th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.7%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%59th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4302024 ACS 5-Year2,91966th 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.

Development Momentum

54/ 100
Top 43% 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 56,754 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 51 units authorized in 2025, up 13% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 56,754 residents in 2024, up 1.9% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 107 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show McMinn County gained about 2.4% 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 $53,266, above the $46,945 of households that moved out.

At 1.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
107
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.9
Bottom 36% nationally
Year over year
+106%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202457k53k
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
+2.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
40%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$53,266
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$46,945
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Monroe County, TN 517 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Bradley County, TN 423 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Meigs County, TN 213 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  4. Knox County, TN 181 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  5. Hamilton County, TN 145 people · 4.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Monroe County, TN 380 people · 15% of departures
  2. Bradley County, TN 375 people · 15% of departures
  3. Meigs County, TN 185 people · 7.5% of departures
  4. Hamilton County, TN 133 people · 5.4% of departures
  5. Loudon County, TN 92 people · 3.7% 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

202220232024202511045
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−54%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 60.4 inches, including 3.6 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 32, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ATHENS, 2.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals60.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals3.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year322024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
32
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

54 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 46% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeElevated
LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Winter weatherModerate

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

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.

McMinn County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 26.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 44.9 per 100,000 residents in McMinn County.

Homicide
5.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
26.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
44.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
35.9
per 100,000 residents

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 McMinn 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Mc Ghee Tyson at 44 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year87.8%Top 43%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle44 miBottom 37%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%Bottom 43%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mc Ghee TysonTYS44 mi10,000 ft
SmyrnaMQY114 mi8,038 ft
Asheville RgnlAVL117 mi8,002 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
54
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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
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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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.

Cities in McMinn County, TN

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.