State of Our State

The 2025 State of Our State Dashboard is now live!

This page features an archived version of our State Dashboard from 2023. To visit the 2025 State of Our State Dashboard, click here.

How Does Tennessee Stack Up?

ThinkTennessee’s State of Our State dashboard, now in its 6th year, provides a snapshot of how our state ranks nationally across 135 of the indicators that matter most to Tennesseans.

The Tennessee economy is rapidly expanding. But to date, our economic success has not yet translated into greater economic opportunity and security for all Tennesseans.

Indeed, while our latest dashboard finds improvements in our national rank on statewide economic indicators from GDP growth (in just three years we’ve risen from #24 in the country to #1–a rate of 8.6% in 2021!) to poverty to unemployment, metrics at the individual level, including median household income, debt levels, and cost-burdened households among others have declined or worsened.

Importantly, state-level economic successes did not happen by accident. Rather, the improvement in these metrics is a direct result of concerted statewide policy efforts and prioritization – illuminating a path forward to achieve similar progress on many of the affordability, infrastructure, and health challenges continuing to plague our state’s working families.

As Tennessee moves deeper into this period of economic expansion, the 2023 dashboard points to several areas where the scope of policymaking should prioritize expanding access to opportunities for all Tennesseans.

Interested in ideas about how to move our state forward? Our research shares success stories from other states and includes pragmatic solutions about how Tennessee can continue to make progress.

Note: For the sake of consistency, rankings have been standardized so low numbers always reflect positive outcomes. In other words, being ranked first is always better than being ranked 50th. Additional detail on research methodology can be found below the rankings.

Low-Wage Jobs

Hispanic/Latino Voter Registration

Mental Health Providers

Recidivism

Women Holding Elected Office

Able-Bodied Seniors

Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate

Income Inequality

Seniors in Good Health

Extremely Low-Income Renters

Solar Energy Systems

Infant Mortality

Typical Wages for Working Women

Black Post-High School Educational Attainment

Typical Wages for Black Workers

Homelessness

Seniors Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Home Ownership

Student Loan Holders in Default

Population Growth

Power Grid Reliability

Volunteerism

Highway Traffic Fatalities

Rural Broadband Access

Women Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Financial Well-Being

Low-Income Uninsured Rate

Poverty

Black Voter Registration

New Businesses

Broadband Subscriptions

Children’s Medicaid/Chip Participation Rate

Student-Teacher Ratio

Student Loan Holders in Default in Communities of Color

Median Household Income

Voter Registration (Presidential Election)

Youth (18-24) Voter Registration

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Drinking Water Quality

Food Insecurity

Adults with Diabetes

Rental Protections

Adults Who Smoke

Households without Computers or Smartphones

Post-High School Educational Attainment

Underemployment

Children in Food-Insecure Households

Opioid Prescriptions

Hispanic/Latino Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Drug Deaths

Youth Unemployment

Deficient Bridges

Hispanic/Latino Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Black Voter Turnout

Voter Registration – Women

Wage Gap

Affordable Rental Shortage

Low-Income Working Families with Kids

Women’s Uninsured Rate

Voter Turnout – Women

Medical Debt in Collections

Young Children Not in School

Children in Households with High Housing Cost Burden

Women Judges

Cost-Burdened Homeowners

Cost of Living

Seniors (65+) Voter Registration

Juvenile Detention Rate

Electricity Prices

Nursing Home Quality

Voter Turnout (Presidential Election)

Student Loan Debt

Adults with Heart Disease

Children in Poverty

Children Receiving Public Assistance

Black Uninsured Rate

Cost of Childcare (Infants)

Voter Turnout (Midterm Election)

Hispanic/Latino Incarceration Rate

Typical Wages for Workers with Bachelors Education or Higher

Public School Teacher Salary

Average Commute

Youth (18-24) Voter Turnout

Broadband Access (25 MBPS)

Working Age Employment Rate

Typical Wages for Hispanic Workers

Air Pollution

Unbanked Households

Labor Force Participation Gender Gap

Uninsured Rate

Food-Insecure Seniors

Adults Without a High School Diploma

Low Birthweight

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate in Communities of Color

Energy Expenditures Per Capita

Hispanic/Latino Voter Turnout

Violent Crime

Childhood Obesity

Seniors Living in Poverty

Black Incarceration Rate

Leed Certified Buildings

Hispanic/Latino Post-High School Educational Attainment

Cost-Burdened Extremely Low-Income Renters

Black Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Green Jobs

Adults on Probation & Parole

Property Crime

High School Graduation

Foreclosures

Black Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Adult Obesity

Voter Registrations Rejected

Unemployment

Felon Disenfranchisement

Public Library Funding

Hispanic/Latino Uninsured Rate

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Women’s Incarceration Rate

Voter Registration (Midterm Election)

Patents

Provisional Ballots Cast

Representation of People of Color in Elected Office

Women Living in Poverty

GDP Growth

Medical Debt in Collections for Communities of Color

Gigabyte Internet Availability

Seniors (65+) Voter Turnout

Bankruptcy Rate

Incarceration Rate

Typical Wages for Workers with Highschool Education

Commuters Taking Transit to Work

Road Quality

Uninsured Children

Notes on Methodology:

Metrics were compiled using publicly available data and are current as of Jan. 10th, 2023. Where possible, we favored U.S. government data over other sources for consistency and reliability.

Some debt- and voting-related indicators will be updated throughout the year as newer information becomes available.