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This page features an archived version of our State Dashboard from 2023.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.

Unbanked Households

Black Voter Registration

Commuters Taking Transit to Work

Property Crime

Typical Wages for Black Workers

Electricity Prices

Hispanic/Latino Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Unemployment

Foreclosures

Low Birthweight

Violent Crime

Medical Debt in Collections for Communities of Color

Poverty

Voter Turnout (Presidential Election)

Drinking Water Quality

Provisional Ballots Cast

Voter Registrations Rejected

Leed Certified Buildings

Black Incarceration Rate

Children’s Medicaid/Chip Participation Rate

Typical Wages for Working Women

Public School Teacher Salary

Voter Registration (Midterm Election)

Adults Without a High School Diploma

Voter Registration – Women

Youth Unemployment

Road Quality

Cost of Childcare (Infants)

High School Graduation

Hispanic/Latino Voter Turnout

Broadband Access (25 MBPS)

Hispanic/Latino Incarceration Rate

Seniors (65+) Voter Registration

Home Ownership

Hispanic/Latino Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Rental Protections

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate

Seniors (65+) Voter Turnout

Representation of People of Color in Elected Office

Student Loan Debt

Wage Gap

Public Library Funding

Youth (18-24) Voter Registration

Hispanic/Latino Post-High School Educational Attainment

Adult Obesity

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Nursing Home Quality

Young Children Not in School

Gigabyte Internet Availability

Black Voter Turnout

Student-Teacher Ratio

Power Grid Reliability

Black Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Seniors Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Opioid Prescriptions

Voter Turnout (Midterm Election)

Rural Broadband Access

Mental Health Providers

Juvenile Detention Rate

Adults Who Smoke

Women Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Food-Insecure Seniors

Children Receiving Public Assistance

Cost of Living

Air Pollution

Black Uninsured Rate

Low-Income Working Families with Kids

Drug Deaths

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate in Communities of Color

Women Living in Poverty

Working Age Employment Rate

New Businesses

Black Post-High School Educational Attainment

Typical Wages for Hispanic Workers

Children in Households with High Housing Cost Burden

Uninsured Rate

Incarceration Rate

Low-Income Uninsured Rate

Green Jobs

Childhood Obesity

Population Growth

Highway Traffic Fatalities

Income Inequality

Deficient Bridges

Women’s Uninsured Rate

Student Loan Holders in Default

Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Post-High School Educational Attainment

Financial Well-Being

Broadband Subscriptions

Median Household Income

Black Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Infant Mortality

Cost-Burdened Homeowners

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Adults with Heart Disease

Seniors in Good Health

Recidivism

GDP Growth

Typical Wages for Workers with Highschool Education

Student Loan Holders in Default in Communities of Color

Affordable Rental Shortage

Underemployment

Hispanic/Latino Voter Registration

Average Commute

Bankruptcy Rate

Homelessness

Seniors Living in Poverty

Women’s Incarceration Rate

Women Holding Elected Office

Cost-Burdened Extremely Low-Income Renters

Extremely Low-Income Renters

Felon Disenfranchisement

Uninsured Children

Labor Force Participation Gender Gap

Adults with Diabetes

Voter Registration (Presidential Election)

Voter Turnout – Women

Children in Poverty

Food Insecurity

Volunteerism

Women Judges

Patents

Adults on Probation & Parole

Energy Expenditures Per Capita

Households without Computers or Smartphones

Typical Wages for Workers with Bachelors Education or Higher

Able-Bodied Seniors

Youth (18-24) Voter Turnout

Medical Debt in Collections

Children in Food-Insecure Households

Hispanic/Latino Uninsured Rate

Solar Energy Systems

Low-Wage Jobs

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.