Obion County, TN

County Profile

30,453 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Obion 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.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 19% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,056th of 1,463 counties measured44
Schools804th of 1,377 counties measured44
Growth1,408th of 1,453 counties measured17
Housing affordabilityTop 11% of 1,462 counties measured84
ClimateTop 41% of 1,463 counties measured71
Physical resilience991st of 1,463 counties measured46
Access1,030th of 1,463 counties measured70
Economic stability1,274th of 1,463 counties measured28
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 3.7% and the Opportunity signal places Obion County in the bottom 28%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 21 units authorized over the past twelve months, 22% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 25% of renter income and the median home is 2.1 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
30,453
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$54,613
Bottom 22% nationally
Density
56/sq mi
544.8 sq mi of land
Median age
41.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Obion County
Tennessee
Micro area
Nearest major airport
BYH
52 mi · Arkansas Intl
Median home value
$133,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 65% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 13,012 employed residents.

Median household income of $54,613 is lower than in 78% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$44,8139th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$45,85111th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,7082024 ACS 5-Year$54,613Bottom 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,6712024 ACS 5-Year$30,429Bottom 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$52,387Bottom 34%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.6%Bottom 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.8 minTop 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.3%Bottom 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.7%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202613,012Bottom 16%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.2%Bottom 34%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,51716th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.1%Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%42nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.3%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.7%Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.2%6th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.32.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, 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

202120222023202455k46k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $54,613 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.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 37% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
—
Math proficiency
34.1%
Bottom 40% in Tennessee
Reading proficiency
37.1%
Top 50% in Tennessee
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Union City Elementary SchoolUnion City793—33%25%
Obion County Central High SchoolObion County652—12%44%
Hillcrest ElementaryObion County587—49%43%
Lake Road ElementaryObion County492—42%36%
Union City Middle SchoolUnion City438—43%29%
Union City High SchoolUnion City416—22%52%
Ridgemont ElementaryObion County385—31%25%
South Fulton Middle / High SchoolObion County334—31%45%
South Fulton ElementaryObion County289—52%42%
Black Oak ElementaryObion County220—37%37%

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 $690 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.52% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $925, some 20% above the $770 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $925 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $37,000 a year, about 68% of the median household income here of $54,613.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $770 a month.

A median home at $133,600 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $63,639, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
25.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$925
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$770
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$133,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Obion County’s median household income of $54,613, 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-Year2.1Top 28%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year68.1%23rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±662024 ACS 5-Year14,32654th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$727Top 9%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,187Top 10%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$925Top 10%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$282024 ACS 5-Year$770Top 27%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,7242024 ACS 5-Year$133,60023rd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$69010th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,5062024 ACS 5-Year$63,639Bottom 22%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.52%18th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year25.0%Top 26%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1622024 ACS 5-Year39453rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.8%50th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3082024 ACS 5-Year1,79951st 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

17/ 100
Ranks 1,408 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 30,261 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 27 units authorized in 2025, up 29% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 21 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Obion County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $44,813, close to the $45,851 of households that moved out.

At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
21
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.7
Bottom 12% nationally
Year over year
−22%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202431k30k
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 falling, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
40%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$44,813
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$45,851
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Weakley County, TN 229 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Dyer County, TN 130 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Gibson County, TN 96 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  4. Fulton County, KY 63 people · 5.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Weakley County, TN 240 people · 21% of departures
  2. Dyer County, TN 134 people · 12% of departures
  3. Gibson County, TN 80 people · 7.0% of departures
  4. Fulton County, KY 51 people · 4.4% of departures
  5. Lake County, TN 40 people · 3.5% 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

20222023202420253721
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−21%).

Weather & climate

6 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 53.3 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DYERSBURG III GOLF, 28.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals53.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

46 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, cold wave and inland flooding, with earthquake alone responsible for 57% 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
Ice stormModerate
Cold waveModerate
DroughtModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Strong windModerate
LandslideModerate
TornadoHigh

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, hurricane, inland flooding, hail, wildfire, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, 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.

Obion County has a modeled homicide rate of about 8.5 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 36.2 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 11.7 per 100,000 residents in Obion County.

Homicide
8.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
36.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
11.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
22.4
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 Obion 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.
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. 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Arkansas Intl at 52 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year83.7%Bottom 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle52 miBottom 28%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.4%Bottom 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Arkansas IntlBYH52 mi11,602 ft
Millington/MemphisNQA80 mi8,001 ft
Veterans Airport of Southern IllinoisMWA97 mi8,012 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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50
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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
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.

Cities in Obion County, TN