AreaProfile

37920Knoxville, Tennessee

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 37920.

74
Area Score
Top 10% of 695 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 29% of 727 published ZIP areas65
GrowthTop 6% of 701 published ZIP areas73
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 800 published ZIP areas82
ClimateTop 25% of 779 published ZIP areas77
Physical resilienceTop 25% of 800 published ZIP areas73
AccessTop 47% of 779 published ZIP areas97
Economic stability612th of 800 published ZIP areas46
The quick read

A major airport is 10 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

Its Area Score of 74 places 37920 in the top 10% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
44,995
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,362
Bottom 41% nationally
Density
622/sq mi
72.3 sq mi of land
Median age
33.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Knoxville
Tennessee
Metro area
Knoxville, TN
Nearest major airport
TYS
10 mi · Mc Ghee Tyson
Median home value
$267,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7% is lower than 90% of the 1,061 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.3% over the past year, to 99,551 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,848$66,362Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,845$36,290Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate19.0%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.2 minBottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher35.6%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment99,551Bottom 10%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.6%Top 32%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.3%Bottom 39%June 2026
Labor force103,356Bottom 10%June 2026
Labor force participation65.4%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,890Bottom 13%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,080Bottom 20%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 47%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.7%Bottom 10%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202466k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,362 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 — Knoxville, TN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers12,730$27,720
Retail Salespersons12,430$31,150
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand10,120$37,400
Registered Nurses9,500$77,240
General and Operations Managers8,660$104,590
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers8,130$59,100

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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Knoxville, TN, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,157 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,157
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$267,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.03Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate58.9%Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±77120,555Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$69$1,157Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,579$267,600Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.9%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.5%Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
73/ 100
Top 6% of 701 published city profiles

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.

72% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 9.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
1,738
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.0
Top 10% nationally
Year over year
−10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
72.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Knoxville, TN, the city containing this ZIP code.

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 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 51.9 inches, including 4.6 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 KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AP, 9.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation51.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall4.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing39°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

73 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, lightning and ice storm.

LightningModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Ice stormModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, inland flooding, cold wave, strong wind, heat wave, hurricane, wildfire, hail, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 10 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mc Ghee TysonTYS10 mi10,000 ft
Asheville RgnlAVL81 mi8,002 ft
Tri-CitiesTRI90 mi8,000 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
74
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

37920 vs Knoxville

How this ZIP area compares with Knoxville as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

37920
Knoxville
Median household income
$66,362
vs
$54,039
Per capita income
$36,290
vs
$35,408
Population density
622/sq mi
vs
1,977/sq mi
Median home value
$267,600
vs
$239,700
Median gross rent
$1,157
vs
$1,191
Homeownership rate
58.9%
vs
46.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
35.6%
vs
34.6%
Poverty rate
19.0%
vs
20.2%
Median age
33.6
vs
33.5

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.