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This page features an archived version of our State Dashboard from 2023.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

Representation of People of Color in Elected Office

Public Library Funding

Seniors (65+) Voter Registration

Median Household Income

Food Insecurity

Uninsured Children

Deficient Bridges

Cost-Burdened Extremely Low-Income Renters

Drinking Water Quality

Commuters Taking Transit to Work

Foreclosures

Affordable Rental Shortage

Unemployment

Women Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Seniors (65+) Voter Turnout

Nursing Home Quality

Student Loan Holders in Default in Communities of Color

Post-High School Educational Attainment

Gigabyte Internet Availability

Black Post-High School Educational Attainment

Patents

Adult Obesity

Seniors Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Hispanic/Latino Voter Registration

Uninsured Rate

Student-Teacher Ratio

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate

Medical Debt in Collections for Communities of Color

Poverty

Population Growth

Hispanic/Latino Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Rural Broadband Access

Voter Registrations Rejected

Women Judges

Mental Health Providers

Women Living in Poverty

Voter Turnout (Presidential Election)

Food-Insecure Seniors

Hispanic/Latino Voter Turnout

Provisional Ballots Cast

Voter Registration (Presidential Election)

Adults Without a High School Diploma

Leed Certified Buildings

Juvenile Detention Rate

Low-Income Uninsured Rate

Black Incarceration Rate

Adults on Probation & Parole

Student Loan Holders in Default

Adults with Heart Disease

Volunteerism

Air Pollution

Cost of Living

Seniors Living in Poverty

Infant Mortality

Typical Wages for Working Women

Broadband Access (25 MBPS)

Black Voter Registration

Voter Turnout (Midterm Election)

High School Graduation

Youth (18-24) Voter Registration

Energy Expenditures Per Capita

Voter Registration (Midterm Election)

Green Jobs

Households without Computers or Smartphones

Women’s Uninsured Rate

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Voter Turnout – Women

Hispanic/Latino Uninsured Rate

Typical Wages for Hispanic Workers

Rental Protections

Wage Gap

Young Children Not in School

Seniors in Good Health

Adults Who Smoke

Black Uninsured Rate

Women Holding Elected Office

Broadband Subscriptions

Recidivism

Solar Energy Systems

Average Commute

Low Birthweight

Typical Wages for Black Workers

Adults with Diabetes

GDP Growth

Voter Registration – Women

Power Grid Reliability

Student Loan Debt

Electricity Prices

Financial Well-Being

Unbanked Households

Black Voter Turnout

Homelessness

Medical Debt in Collections

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate in Communities of Color

Home Ownership

Youth (18-24) Voter Turnout

Children in Households with High Housing Cost Burden

Hispanic/Latino Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Cost-Burdened Homeowners

Labor Force Participation Gender Gap

Extremely Low-Income Renters

Low-Income Working Families with Kids

Black Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Women’s Incarceration Rate

Able-Bodied Seniors

Underemployment

Typical Wages for Workers with Highschool Education

Public School Teacher Salary

Income Inequality

Hispanic/Latino Post-High School Educational Attainment

Felon Disenfranchisement

Road Quality

Children’s Medicaid/Chip Participation Rate

Incarceration Rate

Youth Unemployment

Typical Wages for Workers with Bachelors Education or Higher

Hispanic/Latino Incarceration Rate

Childhood Obesity

Violent Crime

Opioid Prescriptions

Property Crime

Highway Traffic Fatalities

Drug Deaths

Black Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Children in Poverty

New Businesses

Children in Food-Insecure Households

Bankruptcy Rate

Low-Wage Jobs

Cost of Childcare (Infants)

Children Receiving Public Assistance

Working Age Employment Rate

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.