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Place dossier plate
SheetTN-ETOWAH-TN · Etowah, TN 3,621 pop · income 11th 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 Etowah
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Etowah on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Tiptonville · lowest
22,979
Tiptonville · lowest
22,979 median HH income
18.5% of the leader · rank #1
Stanleytown · near
43,611
Stanleytown · near
43,611 median HH income
35.1% of the leader · rank #2
Etowah · this city
43,614
Etowah · this city
43,614 median HH income
35.1% of the leader · rank #3
Hamburg · near
43,625
Hamburg · near
43,625 median HH income
35.1% of the leader · rank #4
Millbourne · near
43,625
Millbourne · near
43,625 median HH income
35.1% of the leader · rank #5
Wheatland · near
43,625
Wheatland · near
43,625 median HH income
35.1% of the leader · rank #6
Upper Greenwo… · highest
124,297
Upper Greenwo… · highest
124,297 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Etowah on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 3,621.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Etowah - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Etowah places in the 11th percentile for household income and the 83rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
11th
percentile, household income
32nd
percentile, home value
34th
percentile, median rent
83rd
percentile, safety
📝 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: Etowah, TN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 3,621 residents in Etowah, a small town within Tennessee. Etowah households earn a median of $43,614 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 10.7%. Home values in Etowah run a median of $165,900, and the median resident age is 42.1 years. About 22.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 42.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 4 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier. Etowah reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 564.5 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Tennessee run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Tennessee at 91.9 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,118 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Tennessee's average monthly utility costs around $218 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 52.5 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Etowah'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 schools and households to population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Etowah, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Etowah?
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.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 22.5% 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +184 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Etowah?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 89.7%. 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. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Etowah?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Tennessee, the closest population matches are Jasper (3,610 residents, $73,875 income); Gatlinburg (3,643 residents, $57,760 income); Camden (3,664 residents, $48,700 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Upper Greenwood Lake, NJ (3,621 residents); Palmyra, MO (3,620 residents); North Wildwood, NJ (3,620 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Etowah?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.8×
Home value
$165,900
Household income
$43,614
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Etowah?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 564.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 75% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
564.5
Violent rate
161.3
Property rate
403.2
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger 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.
Violent crime C
161 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$43,614
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Etowah profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 78/100 (B+) · 91.9 index
Violent crime: 56/100 (C) · 161 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 42/100 (D) · 22.5%
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.7%
Household income: 12/100 (F) · $43,614
Where Etowah sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Etowah's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Etowah highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Etowah, TN (this city): home $165,900, crime 565/100k
Palmyra, MO : home $165,000, crime 1,141/100k
North Wildwood, NJ : home $446,400, crime 3,553/100k
Norton, VA : home $100,700, crime 10,497/100k
Jasper, TN : home $173,900, crime 856/100k
Gatlinburg, TN : home $286,500, crime 3,438/100k
Camden, TN : home $123,600, crime 1,194/100k
Tiptonville, TN : home $109,400, crime 1,586/100k
Centerville, TN : home $205,100, crime 503/100k
How does Etowah compare to other US cities?
Etowah measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income11% higher than other cities
Home value32% pricier than other cities
Median rent34% pricier than other cities
Safety83% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Tennessee, Etowah ranks #19 of 174 Tennessee cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Etowah 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 Etowah near the bottom of Tennessee's cities
Among the 482 Tennessee cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Etowah ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Etowah only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#362 of 458
21st percentile in Tennessee
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 482
0th percentile in Tennessee
Median Home Value
#258 of 455
43rd percentile in Tennessee
Poverty Rate
#225 of 482
53rd percentile in Tennessee
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#151 of 482
69th 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
11th percentile nationally for median household income · 83rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Etowah's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Etowah's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Etowah's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$165,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 68% 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
Etowah's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,070 of 15,516
More affordable than 35% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,957 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.8×, Etowah sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,070 of 15,516 and #7,957 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$43,614Etowah, TN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Etowah, 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 Etowah, TN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,621
Median Income
$43,614
Median Home Value
$165,900
Median Age
42.1
Poverty Rate
10.7%
Labor force participation
42.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
564.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
161.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
403.2
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
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
Etowah's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,602 residents
2021
3,626 residents
2022
3,657 residents
2023
3,712 residents
2024
3,756 residents
2025
3,786 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4
4
0
$0.4M
2020
3
3
0
$0.5M
2021
4
4
0
$0.6M
2022
5
5
0
$0.5M
2023
4
4
0
$0.5M
2024
4
4
0
$0.5M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
89.7%
Carpool
3.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.2%
Work from Home
6.2%
Other
0.9%
Based on 1,121 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 Etowah. 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 Etowah 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 Etowah sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Etowah 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, FBI UCR, 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.