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Place dossier plate
SheetTN-BULLS-GAP-TN · Bulls Gap, TN 910 pop · income 20th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Bulls Gap
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bulls Gap on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Minor · lowest
32,065
Minor · lowest
32,065 median HH income
18.1% of the leader · rank #1
Center · near
50,057
Center · near
50,057 median HH income
28.2% of the leader · rank #2
Jonesboro · near
50,060
Jonesboro · near
50,060 median HH income
28.2% of the leader · rank #3
Bulls Gap · this city
50,066
Bulls Gap · this city
50,066 median HH income
28.2% of the leader · rank #4
Centerville · near
50,066
Centerville · near
50,066 median HH income
28.2% of the leader · rank #5
Erwin · near
50,077
Erwin · near
50,077 median HH income
28.2% of the leader · rank #6
Ridgeside · highest
177,500
Ridgeside · highest
177,500 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bulls Gap on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 910.
Nationally, Bulls Gap sits in the 20th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
20th
percentile, household income
26th
percentile, home value
34th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Bulls Gap, TN
910 people live in Bulls Gap, Tennessee - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Bulls Gap brings in $50,066 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.4%. Typical homes in Bulls Gap are valued around $148,200, and the median resident age is 48.1 years. About 13.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 38.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Bulls Gap (No Permits), per Census BPS data.
Living costs in Tennessee run below the national norm: the state registers 91.9 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,118 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Tennessee run around $218, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 52.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bulls Gap's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bulls Gap, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Bulls Gap growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +19 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Bulls Gap?
Within Tennessee, the closest population matches are Ridgeside (907 residents, $177,500 income); Fowlkes (898 residents, $43,813 income); Decaturville (895 residents, $40,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are McCammon, ID (910 residents); Hamlet, IN (910 residents); Weir, KS (910 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
How far does income reach against housing in Bulls Gap?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
What does the education layer cover for Bulls Gap?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 13.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Bulls Gap?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
4.4%
Drive alone
90.4%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 272 workers age 16+.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living B+
91.9 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$50,066
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Bulls Gap profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 78/100 (B+) · 91.9 index
Household income: 20/100 (F) · $50,066
Bachelor's+ share: 15/100 (F) · 13.1%
Poverty rate: 14/100 (F) · 19.4%
How does Bulls Gap compare to other US cities?
Where Bulls Gap sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income20% higher than other cities
Home value26% pricier than other cities
Median rent34% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bulls Gap against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Tennessee only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Tennessee-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bulls Gap near the bottom of Tennessee's cities
Among the 482 Tennessee cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bulls Gap ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bulls Gap only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#296 of 458
35th percentile in Tennessee
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 482
0th percentile in Tennessee
Median Home Value
#309 of 455
32nd percentile in Tennessee
Poverty Rate
#92 of 482
81st percentile in Tennessee
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#316 of 482
34th percentile in Tennessee
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Tennessee only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
20th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Bulls Gap's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$148,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 74% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Bulls Gap's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,473 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,508 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Bulls Gap sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,473 of 15,516 and #5,508 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$50,066Bulls Gap, TN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bulls Gap, TN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bulls Gap, TN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)38.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
910
Median Income
$50,066
Median Home Value
$148,200
Median Age
48.1
Poverty Rate
19.4%
Labor force participation
38.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.1%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bulls Gap's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
749 residents
2021
752 residents
2022
757 residents
2023
764 residents
2024
769 residents
2025
768 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
2
2
0
$0.3M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.4%
Carpool
4.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
4.4%
Other
0.8%
Based on 272 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Tennessee statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $218
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Tennessee at $218 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Tennessee statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bulls Gap. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Tennessee's BEA cost-of-living index is 91.9 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bulls Gap is $1,118/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Tennessee statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 52.5 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Tennessee statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bulls Gap sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bulls Gap compares to similar-size Tennessee cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.