Knoxville, TN

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

2024 Population

932,241

US Senator

Marsha Blackburn

Republican Party

US Senator

Bill Hagerty

Republican Party

2024 Median Age

40.6

0.247% 1-year increase

2024 Poverty Rate

12.2%

2.89% 1-year decrease

2024 Median Household Income

$72,422

3.85% 1-year growth

Population & Diversity

Knoxville, TN is home to a population of 932k people, from which 97.3% are citizens.

As of 2024, 4.81% of Knoxville, TN residents were born outside of the country (44.8k people).

In 2024, there were 15.9 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (782k people) in Knoxville, TN than any other race or ethnicity. There were 49.1k Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) and 27.3k Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

97.3%

2024 Citizenship

97.3%

2023 Citizenship

As of 2024, 97.3% of Knoxville, TN residents were US citizens, which is higher than the national average of 93.2%. In 2023, the percentage of US citizens in Knoxville, TN was 97.3%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Knoxville, TN compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Knoxville, TN

White (Non-Hispanic)
782k ± 1.12k
Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
49.1k ± 890
Two Races Including Other (Hispanic)
27.3k ± 1.71k

5.46%

Hispanic Population

50.9k people

5.46% of the people in Knoxville, TN are hispanic (50.9k people).

The following chart shows the 8 races represented in Knoxville, TN as a share of the total population.

Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the MSA level, so we are showing data for Tennessee.

Most Common Origin

Mexico
95,077 ± 7,519 people
Guatemala
31,959 ± 4,379 people
Honduras
26,792 ± 4,011 people

In 2024, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Tennessee was Mexico, the natal country of 95,077 Tennessee residents, followed by Guatemala with 31,959 and Honduras with 26,792.

Foreign-Born Population

4.81%

2024 Foreign-Born Population

44.8k people

4.69%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

43.1k people

As of 2024, 4.81% of Knoxville, TN residents (44.8k people) were born outside of the United States, which is approximately the same as the national average of 14%. In 2023, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in Knoxville, TN was 4.69%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Knoxville, TN compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Vietnam
19,148 ± 826
Gulf War (2001-)
12,528 ± 956
Gulf War (1990s)
9,047 ± 875

Knoxville, TN has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 1.53 times greater than any other conflict.

The chart shows the distribution of veterans by conflict in Knoxville, TN.

Economy

The economy of Knoxville, TN employs 448k people. In 2024, the largest industries in Knoxville, TN were Health Care & Social Assistance (62,520 people), Retail Trade (54,449 people), and Manufacturing (46,576 people), and the highest paying industries were Utilities ($84,375), Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($77,634), and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services ($76,347).

Employment

Occupations

448k

2024 Value

± 5,671

2.49%

1 Year growth

± 1.75%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Knoxville, TN grew at a rate of 2.49%, from 437k employees to 448k employees.

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Knoxville, TN, are Office & Administrative Support Occupations (50,148 people), Management Occupations (47,866 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (43,789 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Knoxville, TN.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Tennessee.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Tennessee (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

Industries

Employment by Industries

448k

2024 Value

± 5,671

2.49%

1 Year growth

± 1.75%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Knoxville, TN grew at a rate of 2.49%, from 437k employees to 448k employees.

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Knoxville, TN, are Health Care & Social Assistance (62,520 people), Retail Trade (54,449 people), and Manufacturing (46,576 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Knoxville, TN, though some of these residents may live in Knoxville, TN and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Median Earnings by Industry

$51,886

Median earning men ± $706

$38,267

Median earning women ± $865

The industries with the best median earnings for men in 2024 are Information ($72,640), Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($70,181), and Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services ($70,069).

The industries with the best median earnings for women in 2024 are Public Administration ($51,852), Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services ($49,280), and Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($48,796).

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Tennessee.

Y-Axis

3.15%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 3.29M people employed in Tennessee. This represents a 3.15% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 10.8%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Tennessee.

Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments

1,243
Other Services (except Public Administration)
1,168
Retail Trade
1,131
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

The visualization shows the number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll

$2.88M
Health Care and Social Assistance
$2.86M
Manufacturing
$2.69M
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

Education

The student population of Knoxville, TN in 2024 is skewed towards women, with 28,349 male students and 41,701 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in Knoxville, TN are White (12,428 and 77.6%), Black or African American (1,377 and 8.6%), Hispanic or Latino (823 and 5.14%), and Two or More Races (588 and 3.67%).

The largest universities in Knoxville, TN by number of degrees awarded are The University of Tennessee-Knoxville (8,969 and 54.6%), South College (2,780 and 16.9%), and Pellissippi State Community College (1,742 and 10.6%).

The most popular majors in Knoxville, TN are Liberal Arts & Sciences (1,299 and 7.91%), Pre-Nursing Studies (717 and 4.37%), and Registered Nursing (665 and 4.05%).

The median tuition costs are $28,785 for private four year colleges, and $11,560 and $30,704 respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.

Admissions & Enrollments

Applicants, Admissions & Enrolled

University

Measure

In 2024 in Knoxville, TN, the percentage of applicants admitted was 42.9%, while the percentage of admitted who enrolled was 26.4%. The number of students enrolled in 2024 was 70,050 (40.5% men and 59.5% women).

The line chart shows the evolution of the percentage of applicants admitted, admitted who enrolled or the number of students enrolled according to the option selected in the upper button.

Enrollments by Gender and Races

Universities

In 2024 there were 70,050 students enrolled in Knoxville, TN, 40.5% men and 59.5% women.

By race, the largest number of students enrolled was concentrated in White with 49,284 records, of which 57.9% were women and 42.1% men.

Completions

Concentrations

Most Common

Registered Nursing
518 degrees awarded
Logistics, Materials, & Supply Chain Management
399 degrees awarded
General Marketing & Marketing Management
379 degrees awarded

In 2024, the most common concentation for Bachelors Degree recipients in Knoxville, TN was Registered Nursing with 518 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Bachelors Degree from schools in Knoxville, TN according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Race

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
8,969 degrees awarded
South College
2,780 degrees awarded
Pellissippi State Community College
1,742 degrees awarded

In 2024, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was The University of Tennessee-Knoxville with 8,969 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

University

In 2024, 6,427 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Knoxville, TN, which is 0.643 times less than the 9,988 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2024, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was White students. These 12,428 degrees mean that there were 9.03 times more degrees awarded to White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Black or African American, with 1,377 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Tuition

Average Net Price by Sector

Universities

Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above ($28,785) is the sector with the highest median state tuition in 2024.

Public, 4-year or above ($2,252) is the sector with the highest median state fee in 2024.

Public, 4-year or above ($1,598) is the sector with the highest average net price of books and supplies.

The graph shows the average net price by sector and year.

Housing & Living

The median property value in Knoxville, TN was $290,200 in 2024, which is 0.872 times smaller than the national average of $332,700. Between 2023 and 2024 the median property value increased from $255,300 to $290,200, a 13.7% increase. The homeownership rate in Knoxville, TN is 70.4%, which is higher than the national average of 65.2%.

People in Knoxville, TN have an average commute time of 24.4 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Knoxville, TN is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

Housing

Property

$290,200

Median Property Value 2024

±$3,868

$266,262

Median Property Taxes

±$3,834

The following chart display owner-occupied housing units distributed between a series of property tax buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In Knoxville, TN the largest share of households pay taxes in the $800 - $1,499 range.

The chart underneath the paragraph shows the property taxes in Knoxville, TN compared to it's parent and neighbor geographies.

Rent vs Own

70.4%

Homeownership

2024

67.6%

Homeowners with Mortgage

2024

In 2024, 70.4% of the housing units in Knoxville, TN were occupied by their owner. This percentage grew from the previous year's rate of 70.2%.

This chart shows the percentage of owner in Knoxville, TN compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

Equity

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$72,422

Median Household Income

± $976

378k

Number of Households

± 4,980

In 2024, the median household income of the 378k households in Knoxville, TN grew to $72,422 from the previous year's value of $69,734.

The following chart displays the households in Knoxville, TN distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $75k - $100k range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Knoxville, TN is from Tennessee.

0.457

2024 Wage GINI in Tennessee

0.459

2023 Wage GINI in Tennessee

In 2024, the income inequality in Tennessee was 0.457 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.505% decline from 2023 to 2024, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even. The GINI for Tennessee was lower than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Tennessee in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Tennessee across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2024

Drove Alone (77.3%)
Worked At Home (13%)
Carpooled (7.17%)

In 2024, 77.3% of workers in Knoxville, TN drove alone to work, followed by those who worked at home (13%) and those who carpooled to work (7.17%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

24.4 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Knoxville, TN have a shorter commute time (24.4 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.4 minutes). Additionally, 1.4% of the workforce in Knoxville, TN have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Knoxville, TN compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Knoxville, TN distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Knoxville, TN have 2 cars.

Poverty

Poverty & Diversity

12.2% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Knoxville, TN (112k out of 912k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is lower than the national average of 12.5%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 18 - 24, followed by Females 25 - 34 and then Males 18 - 24.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Knoxville, TN is White, followed by Two Or More and Hispanic.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798, followed by New York (5,087).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

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