The 10 Most Boring Places In Tennessee For 2023


The most boring places in Tennessee are Soddy-Daisy and Church Hill for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in Tennessee that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.

Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in Volunteer State are so lucky.

Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within Tennessee’s’ borders. You know the places where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.

Like Soddy-Daisy, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Oklahoma according to Saturday Night Science. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Soddy-Daisy. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in Tennessee as well.

Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement.

The 10 Most Boring Places In Tennessee

  1. Soddy-Daisy
  2. Church Hill
  3. Smithville
  4. Oakland
  5. Mount Carmel
  6. Harriman
  7. Atoka
  8. Clinton
  9. Lakeland
  10. Erwin

Don’t freak out, in fact, believe it not, a boring city is actually one a lot of people would like to call home.

Before you get all upset if your city’s name is on the list, rest assured that we didn’t use personal opinion when it comes to what classifies a city or town as “boring” or “exciting”. We crunched actual numbers to figure out which towns are statistically more boring.

Showing this data to you is the kind of thing that a real estate agent knows, but would never share.

For more Tennessee reading, check out:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Most Boring Places In Tennessee For 2023

Soddy-Daisy, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 13,091
Average Age: 46.0
% Married: 31.0%
More on Soddy-Daisy: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Church Hill, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10
Population: 7,016
Average Age: 47.6
% Married: 36.0%
More on Church Hill: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

3. Smithville

Smithville, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Ichabod | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 5,059
Average Age: 43.0
% Married: 29.0%
More on Smithville: Crime | Real Estate

Oakland, TN

Source: Flickr User dsyzdek | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 9,139
Average Age: 38.2
% Married: 24.0%
More on Oakland: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Mount Carmel, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,486
Average Age: 42.2
% Married: 34.0%
More on Mount Carmel: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Harriman, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 6,000
Average Age: 43.8
% Married: 26.0%
More on Harriman: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Atoka, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew P. Bohrman, Stephanie Bohrman | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10
Population: 10,070
Average Age: 37.6
% Married: 29.0%
More on Atoka: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Clinton, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Bms4880 | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 10,060
Average Age: 46.1
% Married: 37.0%
More on Clinton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Lakeland, TN

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10
Population: 13,811
Average Age: 42.0
% Married: 26.0%
More on Lakeland: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Erwin, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 6,026
Average Age: 46.8
% Married: 35.0%
More on Erwin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the boring cities in the Volunteer State

You would present the following case to your friends if you were argueing with them at a bar about the most boring place to live in Tennessee. And that’s why we call it Saturday Night Science.

Because our data speaks more truth than feelings.

To figure out how boring a place is, we factored in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people.

We used the U.S. American Community Census data to gather the information presented here. HSome of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring include:

  • % of Population Over 25 (higher is more boring)
  • % of Married Household (higher is more boring)
  • Average Age (higher is more boring)
  • % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
  • Population density (lower is more boring)

Then, our algorithm generates a ranking for each place in these categories. After crunching the numbers, all of the cities ranked from most boring to most exciting.

For this ranking, we used every Tennessee city with at least 5,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.

Grab your rocker and hold on.

We updated this article for 2023, and it’s our tenth time ranking the most boring cities in Tennessee.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

On a ranking like this, there are usually no winners, but since Tennessee isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States, the cities on this ranking can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.

If you’re also curious enough, here are the most exciting places in Tennessee, according to science:

  1. Knoxville
  2. Cookeville
  3. Murfreesboro

For more Tennessee reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Most Boring Cities In Tennessee For 2023

Rank City Population Average Age % Married % Kids
1 Soddy-Daisy, TN 13,091 46.0 31.0% 30.6%
2 Church Hill, TN 7,016 47.6 36.0% 25.1%
3 Smithville, TN 5,059 43.0 29.0% 37.9%
4 Oakland, TN 9,139 38.2 24.0% 39.5%
5 Mount Carmel, TN 5,486 42.2 34.0% 29.2%
6 Harriman, TN 6,000 43.8 26.0% 26.8%
7 Atoka, TN 10,070 37.6 29.0% 43.6%
8 Clinton, TN 10,060 46.1 37.0% 24.9%
9 Lakeland, TN 13,811 42.0 26.0% 37.2%
10 Erwin, TN 6,026 46.8 35.0% 31.2%
11 Sweetwater, TN 6,310 43.7 20.0% 33.3%
12 Rockwood, TN 5,468 45.5 21.0% 30.5%
13 Lexington, TN 7,927 36.6 33.0% 37.3%
14 Dunlap, TN 5,443 37.1 33.0% 33.0%
15 Kingston, TN 5,987 44.7 26.0% 25.2%
16 Humboldt, TN 7,851 44.0 30.0% 20.4%
17 Tullahoma, TN 21,107 40.2 27.0% 30.8%
18 White House, TN 13,305 36.5 31.0% 38.2%
19 Bolivar, TN 5,197 39.9 28.0% 21.1%
20 Signal Mountain, TN 8,833 43.2 23.0% 36.5%
21 Kingsport, TN 55,415 44.6 25.0% 25.9%
22 Arlington, TN 14,342 34.7 31.0% 52.4%
23 Winchester, TN 9,450 43.6 24.0% 25.3%
24 Jonesborough, TN 5,891 47.3 23.0% 24.3%
25 Sevierville, TN 17,986 40.6 20.0% 26.0%
26 Greenbrier, TN 6,954 35.4 35.0% 43.3%
27 Bartlett, TN 57,481 41.8 27.0% 34.2%
28 Madisonville, TN 5,120 41.7 20.0% 28.8%
29 Millersville, TN 5,818 38.9 19.0% 30.6%
30 Oak Ridge, TN 31,535 39.9 17.0% 30.9%
31 Greeneville, TN 15,458 41.9 22.0% 27.6%
32 Germantown, TN 41,094 43.5 26.0% 36.1%
33 Dickson, TN 16,051 35.1 24.0% 36.0%
34 Brownsville, TN 9,739 41.1 24.0% 30.8%
35 Alcoa, TN 11,095 36.3 23.0% 25.7%
36 Athens, TN 14,091 41.2 21.0% 29.4%
37 Covington, TN 8,644 35.4 34.0% 32.9%
38 Brentwood, TN 44,830 43.6 17.0% 42.4%
39 Lawrenceburg, TN 11,592 37.3 24.0% 30.8%
40 Munford, TN 6,357 33.5 27.0% 42.0%
41 Milan, TN 8,165 36.9 29.0% 35.5%
42 Fairview, TN 9,519 34.9 23.0% 34.8%
43 Crossville, TN 12,099 40.3 15.0% 24.6%
44 Farragut, TN 23,795 45.9 19.0% 32.5%
45 Lebanon, TN 39,562 35.6 22.0% 32.9%
46 Dyersburg, TN 16,170 42.5 23.0% 28.5%
47 Medina, TN 5,121 37.2 28.0% 41.2%
48 Millington, TN 10,558 38.9 19.0% 28.7%
49 Paris, TN 10,311 39.4 20.0% 25.3%
50 Hendersonville, TN 61,589 40.0 21.0% 33.6%
51 Pigeon Forge, TN 6,345 38.2 12.0% 36.0%
52 Maryville, TN 31,876 41.2 26.0% 32.6%
53 Fayetteville, TN 7,026 37.8 20.0% 27.1%
54 Ripley, TN 7,794 36.7 23.0% 34.4%
55 Portland, TN 13,177 34.0 23.0% 42.4%
56 Bristol, TN 27,307 40.2 18.0% 29.3%
57 Elizabethton, TN 14,375 39.4 25.0% 28.8%
58 Collierville, TN 51,170 40.2 19.0% 40.6%
59 Mount Juliet, TN 39,525 39.2 18.0% 41.6%
60 Lewisburg, TN 12,376 33.0 25.0% 33.8%
61 Thompson’s Station, TN 7,426 36.1 15.0% 39.8%
62 La Follette, TN 7,349 38.5 19.0% 38.6%
63 Gallatin, TN 44,947 37.8 20.0% 30.6%
64 Mcminnville, TN 13,756 38.9 22.0% 27.9%
65 Lafayette, TN 5,555 30.6 28.0% 39.2%
66 Newport, TN 6,850 40.0 27.0% 26.8%
67 Nolensville, TN 14,444 34.5 19.0% 57.0%
68 Savannah, TN 7,206 36.3 23.0% 33.6%
69 Goodlettsville, TN 17,500 38.2 19.0% 27.9%
70 East Ridge, TN 22,040 39.6 20.0% 23.3%
71 Red Bank, TN 11,919 37.4 21.0% 20.7%
72 Morristown, TN 30,574 37.6 17.0% 31.8%
73 Columbia, TN 42,474 36.2 20.0% 32.8%
74 Mckenzie, TN 5,608 36.9 22.0% 28.4%
75 Dayton, TN 7,139 34.6 27.0% 27.6%
76 Springfield, TN 18,775 33.7 20.0% 37.8%
77 Spring Hill, TN 51,319 35.6 12.0% 43.8%
78 Franklin, TN 83,630 37.8 12.0% 35.3%
79 Jackson, TN 67,993 34.6 22.0% 33.3%
80 Henderson, TN 6,326 26.8 17.0% 42.8%
81 Pulaski, TN 8,301 39.9 19.0% 24.4%
82 Manchester, TN 12,325 31.7 19.0% 29.7%
83 Smyrna, TN 53,760 33.9 15.0% 38.7%
84 Chattanooga, TN 181,288 37.0 16.0% 24.0%
85 La Vergne, TN 38,553 32.8 16.0% 44.9%
86 Shelbyville, TN 23,676 31.3 16.0% 37.7%
87 Clarksville, TN 167,882 30.1 10.0% 38.4%
88 Cleveland, TN 47,725 34.5 17.0% 29.7%
89 Collegedale, TN 11,001 32.8 10.0% 21.8%
90 Martin, TN 10,823 24.7 20.0% 22.7%
91 Memphis, TN 630,027 34.5 15.0% 28.1%
92 Murfreesboro, TN 153,487 31.5 17.0% 32.7%
93 Cookeville, TN 34,967 29.5 17.0% 24.6%
94 Knoxville, TN 191,857 33.4 17.0% 22.6%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

One thought on “The 10 Most Boring Places In Tennessee For 2023

  1. Johnson City isn’t number 1?? You put Johnson City as one of the last ones??? WHAT???????????? Since the day ive been born here in JC my whole life I have either gone to school/work then come home to either stare at a tv, stare at a wall, or go to sleep. You really dont have another option. Ive never really connected with anyone here. Everyone’s always been on that “keep it short and sweet even if you have to fake it till they walk away” kind of shit. Or they’re just weird or on drugs. Most are on drugs here.
    But Johnson City is one of the last on the list?? Is tennessee really this bad.. Get me out of here I want to live in Colorado myself.

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