Tennessee brings to mind images of Nashville, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Tennessee has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the places in Tennessee that could use a helping hand.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 97 places in Tennessee with more than 5,000 people.
We were left with this set of the ten poorest places in the Volunteer State for 2018:
- Newport (Photos)
- Savannah (Photos)
- Ripley (Photos)
- Erwin (Photos)
- Bolivar (Photos)
- Harriman (Photos)
- Martin
- La Follette (Photos)
- Crossville (Photos)
- Fayetteville (Photos)
Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
And according to the facts, Newport is the poorest place in Tennessee for 2018.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the richest places in Tennessee or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
How We Determined The Poorest Places In Tennessee For 2018
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the ‘poorest places’. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2012-2016 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The ‘median household income adjusted for the cost of living’ attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
After we collected the data for all 97 places with more than 5,000 people in Tennessee, we ranked each place from 1 to 97 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a ‘Poor Score’ with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Newport, crowned the ‘Poorest Place In Tennessee For 2018’.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 97 places.
1. Newport
Population: 6,856Median Income: $22,417
Unemployment Rate: 13.6%
Poverty Rate: 39.9%
Newport, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Tennessee thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 6,856 people averages the 1st lowest median household income in Tennessee and the 1st highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Savannah
Population: 7,043Median Income: $27,021
Unemployment Rate: 18.4%
Poverty Rate: 35.8%
The second poorest city in Tennessee is Savannah.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 6th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 2nd highest in the Volunteer State.
3. Ripley
Population: 8,249Median Income: $26,266
Unemployment Rate: 14.4%
Poverty Rate: 35.4%
Placing as the third poorest city, Ripley’s median income ranks as the 2nd lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 35.4% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Volunteer State.
4. Erwin
Population: 5,998Median Income: $29,497
Unemployment Rate: 18.2%
Poverty Rate: 31.1%
Erwin ranks as the fourth poorest place in Tennessee.
The town ranks as having the 10th lowest median household income and the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Bolivar
Population: 5,154Median Income: $31,449
Unemployment Rate: 20.3%
Poverty Rate: 30.6%
The fifth poorest city in Tennessee is Bolivar.
The city ranks as having the 22nd lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 8th highest in Tennessee.
Still not the best news for Bolivar.
6. Harriman
Population: 6,223Median Income: $26,280
Unemployment Rate: 16.7%
Poverty Rate: 24.4%
Harriman ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Volunteer State.
It ranks as having the 27th highest incidence of poverty and the 4th highest unemployment rate.
7. Martin
Population: 10,989 Median Income: $31,095
Unemployment Rate: 12.9%
Poverty Rate: 30.8%
Martin places as the seventh poorest city in Tennessee.
The city of over 10,989 ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. La Follette
Population: 7,131Median Income: $26,920
Unemployment Rate: 11.2%
Poverty Rate: 27.8%
La Follette ranks as the eighth poorest city in Tennessee.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 14th highest in the state.
9. Crossville
Population: 11,308Median Income: $26,675
Unemployment Rate: 9.7%
Poverty Rate: 29.8%
Crossville couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Tennessee; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 4th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Crossville ranks as having the 9th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Tennessee.
10. Fayetteville
Population: 7,033Median Income: $31,601
Unemployment Rate: 11.5%
Poverty Rate: 32.3%
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Tennessee is Fayetteville.
The city of 7,033 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Volunteer State.
There You Have It – The Poorest Places In Tennessee For 2018
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Tennessee, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Tennessee.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Tennessee, according to data:
Richest: Brentwood
2nd Richest: Arlington
3rd Richest: Nolensville
For more Tennessee reading , check out:
Is Livingston,Tennessee better off or worse today than 10 years ago ,now under a Black Mayor, Curtis Hayes,The mayor only has a High school education without any business experience? with Population,Economy, Housing?
I know the square is worse today than 10 years ago because of several business have closed on the square ,plus the pawn Shop had to close.
And with over 33 empty building in Church and Main street.