East Ridge, Tennessee

Area Profile

22,070 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for East Ridge, in Hamilton County.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 42% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 35% of 4,199 cities measured63
Schools4,092nd of 4,162 cities measured8
GrowthTop 33% of 4,224 cities measured58
Housing affordabilityTop 10% of 4,218 cities measured81
ClimateTop 38% of 4,225 cities measured73
Physical resilienceTop 50% of 4,226 cities measured58
Access4,131st of 4,226 cities measured44
Economic stability2,783rd of 4,226 cities measured49
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.4% and median household income $62,247, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Hamilton County, TN, which contains East Ridge, rather than for East Ridge alone.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most cities measured: rent takes 26% of renter income and the median home is 3.0 times what its owners earn.

A typical July reaches 91°F and a typical January falls to 32°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
22,070
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$62,247
Bottom 43% nationally
Density
2,665/sq mi
8.3 sq mi of land
Median age
37.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Tennessee
Nearest major airport
TYS
89 mi · Mc Ghee Tyson
Median home value
$211,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Hamilton County, TN, which contains East Ridge, is 3.4%, lower than in 84% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Hamilton County, TN, which contains East Ridge, fell 1.2% over the past year, to 195,079 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsHamilton County, TN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$76,17256th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftHamilton County, TN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$68,57641st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,9002024 ACS 5-Year$62,247Bottom 43%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,4982024 ACS 5-Year$35,451Top 45%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year13.0%Bottom 42%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.5 minTop 28%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.2%Top 41%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.1%36th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentHamilton County, TN’s figureJuly 2026195,079Top 33%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Hamilton County, TN’s figureJuly 2026+2.6%Top 15%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Hamilton County, TN’s figureJuly 2026−1.2%Bottom 40%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceHamilton County, TN’s figureJuly 2026201,93967th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year81.1%Top 39%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageChattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$58,680Bottom 11%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageChattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$46,700Bottom 15%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%83rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Hamilton County, TN’s figureJuly 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateHamilton County, TN’s figureJuly 20263.4%Top 16%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.5%69th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202462k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $62,247 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Hamilton County, TN, which contains this city.

27% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 26% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

Public schools
4
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
—
Math proficiency
26.9%
Bottom 8% in Tennessee
Reading proficiency
26.2%
Bottom 8% in Tennessee
All 4 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
East Ridge Elementary SchoolHamilton County959—30%24%
East Ridge High SchoolHamilton County867—12%32%
Spring Creek Elementary SchoolHamilton County698—46%30%
East Ridge Middle SchoolHamilton County591—21%17%

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 $1,555 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.74% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,389, some 21% above the $1,147 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,389 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $55,600 a year, about 89% of the median household income here of $62,247.

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 $1,147 a month.

A median home at $211,100 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $70,186, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

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
26.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,389
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,147
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$211,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against East Ridge’s median household income of $62,247, 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 14%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.9%33rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+51.5%83rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+119.8%88th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.0Bottom 34%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year57.5%17th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4342024 ACS 5-Year10,44394th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,259Top 42%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,729Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,389Top 35%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$412024 ACS 5-Year$1,147Bottom 35%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,6192024 ACS 5-Year$211,10056th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1272024 ACS 5-Year$1,55544th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,7152024 ACS 5-Year$70,186Bottom 37%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.74%32nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.2%Top 38%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±272024 ACS 5-Year1669th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.0%55th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2322024 ACS 5-Year85694th percentileof 32,3302024 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

58/ 100
Top 33% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 1% since 2020, to 21,970 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 54 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Hamilton County, which contains East Ridge, gained about 0.9% 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 $76,172, above the $68,576 of households that moved out.

At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
54
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.4
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
+38%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202422k22k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
72%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$76,172
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$68,576
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Bradley County, TN 1,084 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  2. Catoosa County, GA 1,012 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  3. Walker County, GA 754 people · 4.2% of arrivals
  4. Davidson County, TN 413 people · 2.3% of arrivals
  5. Knox County, TN 380 people · 2.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Catoosa County, GA 1,358 people · 8.9% of departures
  2. Bradley County, TN 1,245 people · 8.2% of departures
  3. Walker County, GA 984 people · 6.5% of departures
  4. Davidson County, TN 353 people · 2.3% of departures
  5. Rhea County, TN 325 people · 2.1% 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. This is the figure for Hamilton County, TN. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420255340
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+23%).

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 48, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

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, 2.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year632024 calendar year
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
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year32024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year482024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
48
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
63
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
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

58 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 54% of it.

TornadoModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate
Winter weatherModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
420
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,355
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

East Ridge's police department reported 420 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,355.

Hamilton County records 8.4 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 26.3 per 100,000 residents in Hamilton County.

Homicide
8.4
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
26.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.1
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by East Ridge’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around East Ridge (Hamilton County) rather than East Ridge itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mc Ghee Tyson at 89 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year87.5%Bottom 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle89 miBottom 2%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year9.0%Bottom 42%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mc Ghee TysonTYS89 mi10,000 ft
Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones FldHSV91 mi10,001 ft
SmyrnaMQY101 mi8,038 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
56
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—

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Other cities in Chattanooga, TN-GA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ChattanoogaHamilton County185,78359Chattanooga vs East Ridge
Soddy-DaisyHamilton County13,23160Soddy-Daisy vs East Ridge
Middle ValleyHamilton County12,18767Middle Valley vs East Ridge
Red BankHamilton County12,01059
CollegedaleHamilton County11,33068
Fort OglethorpeCatoosa County10,41665

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put East Ridge side by side with a similar place.

East Ridge vs HarrisonburgEast Ridge vs Fort Dodge

Moving to East Ridge from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.

ZIP codes in East Ridge

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in East Ridge with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track East Ridge closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3741221,864$62,508$209,900—