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Place dossier plate
SheetTN-JACKSON-TN · Jackson, TN 68,098 pop · income 22nd pct · 28 tracts
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 Jackson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Jackson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Albany · lowest
45,201
Albany · lowest
45,201 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #1
Metropolis · near
51,548
Metropolis · near
51,548 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #2
Jackson · this city
51,552
Jackson · this city
51,552 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #3
Carrollton · near
51,553
Carrollton · near
51,553 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #4
Woolrich · near
51,556
Woolrich · near
51,556 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #5
Huron · near
51,556
Huron · near
51,556 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #6
Weston · highest
140,501
Weston · highest
140,501 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 Jackson 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: 68,098.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Jackson - the verdict
Jackson ranks in the 22nd percentile for household income and the 7th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
22nd
percentile, household income
41st
percentile, home value
34th
percentile, median rent
7th
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: Jackson, TN
Jackson is a small city in Tennessee, home to 68,098 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $51,552 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.6%. Typical homes in Jackson are valued around $195,000, and the median resident age is 35.3 years. Educational attainment runs 26.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 55.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 159 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Stable), up 2% from five years earlier. Jackson's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 4110.7 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 59.3°F with 55.2 inches of precipitation per year and 4.4 inches of snowfall.
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. 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). Commute times here average 16.0 minutes, with 70.2% driving alone and 9.3% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Jackson'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 climate and hazard context to work and mobility to reported crime to population change to housing and income to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Jackson, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Jackson?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 59.3°F, with 55.2 inches of precipitation and 4.4 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Tennessee is 52.5 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
What does the journey to work look like in Jackson?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.0 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for Jackson?
Within Tennessee, the closest population matches are Johnson City (71,455 residents, $55,429 income); Hendersonville (62,390 residents, $91,503 income); Bartlett (56,998 residents, $100,660 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Union City, CA (68,141 residents); Eagan, MN (68,158 residents); South Hill, WA (68,161 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 28 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Jackson?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 4110.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 80% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
3160.2
Violent rate
950.4
Total reported rate
4110.7
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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 +1,148 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 159 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+1.7%
2025 estimate
69,339
2020 estimate
68,191
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Jackson?
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 19.6%, 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.
Household income
$51,552
Home value
$195,000
Value / income
3.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The NCES join finds 24 public schools within the city match. 26.6% 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 city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
24
Bachelor's degree+
26.6%
Poverty estimate
19.6%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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.
Bachelor's+ share C-
26.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$51,552
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
950 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Jackson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 78/100 (B+) · 91.9 index
Bachelor's+ share: 52/100 (C-) · 26.6%
Household income: 22/100 (F) · $51,552
Poverty rate: 14/100 (F) · 19.6%
Violent crime: 0/100 (F) · 950 /100k
Where Jackson sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Jackson'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 - Jackson highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Jackson, TN (this city): home $195,000, crime 4,111/100k
Union City, CA : home $1,058,200, crime 2,643/100k
Eagan, MN : home $380,800, crime 1,873/100k
Shawnee, KS : home $332,900, crime 2,049/100k
Albany, GA : home $118,700, crime 2,432/100k
Johnson City, TN : home $238,000, crime 2,705/100k
Hendersonville, TN : home $396,500, crime 837/100k
Bartlett, TN : home $283,700, crime 1,534/100k
Kingsport, TN : home $203,000, crime 3,401/100k
Smyrna, TN : home $326,700, crime 2,665/100k
Spring Hill, TN : home $452,400, crime 663/100k
How does Jackson compare to other US cities?
Here's how Jackson stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income22% higher than other cities
Home value41% pricier than other cities
Median rent34% pricier than other cities
Safety7% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Tennessee alone, Jackson ranks #163 of 174 Tennessee cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Jackson 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 Jackson near the bottom of Tennessee's cities
Among the 482 Tennessee cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Jackson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Jackson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#278 of 458
39th percentile in Tennessee
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 482
0th percentile in Tennessee
Median Home Value
#197 of 455
56th percentile in Tennessee
Poverty Rate
#89 of 482
81st percentile in Tennessee
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#120 of 482
75th 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
22nd percentile nationally for median household income · 7th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Jackson's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Jackson'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 Jackson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$195,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 59% 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
Jackson'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
#9,998 of 15,516
More affordable than 36% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#278 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.8×, Jackson sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,998 of 15,516 and #278 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$51,552Jackson, TN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Jackson, 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 Jackson, TN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
68,098
Median Income
$51,552
Median Home Value
$195,000
Median Age
35.3
Poverty Rate
19.6%
Labor force participation
55.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
4110.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
950.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3160.2
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
59.3°F
Annual Precipitation
55.2"
Annual Snowfall
4.4"
Schools
Total Schools
24
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Jackson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
68,191 residents
2021
67,888 residents
2022
68,377 residents
2023
68,476 residents
2024
69,040 residents
2025
69,339 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
159
housing units authorized
Single-Family
159
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
156
156
0
$34.2M
2020
162
162
0
$41.2M
2021
191
191
0
$46.8M
2022
161
161
0
$39.9M
2023
152
152
0
$37.5M
2024
159
159
0
$39.3M
Permit volume increased 2% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.0 minutes
Drive Alone
70.2%
Carpool
12.0%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
2.7%
Work from Home
9.3%
Other
5.0%
Based on 29,278 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 Jackson. 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 Jackson 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 Jackson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Jackson 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.