Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Darden 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: 612.
612 people call Darden, Tennessee home. Source: Census ACS.
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: Darden, TN
Tennessee's Darden is a small town, with 612 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The median resident age is 36.9 years. About 12.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 46.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Tennessee run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Tennessee scores 91.9 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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 Darden'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Darden, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Darden?
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.
Within Tennessee, the closest population matches are Gates (612 residents, $39,815 income); Beersheba Springs (610 residents, $50,000 income); Finger (600 residents, $55,556 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Wainwright, AK (612 residents); Pioneer, FL (612 residents); Potomac, IL (612 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the journey to work look like in Darden?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
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.
Poverty rate D
8.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Darden profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 78/100 (B+) · 91.9 index
Poverty rate: 44/100 (D) · 8.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 13/100 (F) · 12.3%
How does Darden compare to other US cities?
Here's how Darden stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
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 Darden 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 Darden near the bottom of Tennessee's cities
Among the 482 Tennessee cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Darden ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Darden only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 482
0th percentile in Tennessee
Poverty Rate
#261 of 482
46th percentile in Tennessee
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#334 of 482
30th 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Darden in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)46.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
612
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
36.9
Poverty Rate
8.8%
Labor force participation
46.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.3%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.6%
Carpool
2.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
16.7%
Based on 222 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 Darden. 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 Darden 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 Darden sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Darden 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, 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.