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This page features an archived version of our State Dashboard from 2023.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

Adult Obesity

Income Inequality

Seniors in Good Health

Young Children Not in School

Leed Certified Buildings

Power Grid Reliability

Cost of Childcare (Infants)

New Businesses

Recidivism

Patents

Median Household Income

Seniors Living in Poverty

Youth (18-24) Voter Registration

Black Post-High School Educational Attainment

Able-Bodied Seniors

Adults Without a High School Diploma

Foreclosures

Hispanic/Latino Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Affordable Rental Shortage

Opioid Prescriptions

Drinking Water Quality

Gigabyte Internet Availability

Voter Turnout (Presidential Election)

Typical Wages for Working Women

Black Voter Turnout

Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Deficient Bridges

Voter Registration (Midterm Election)

Poverty

Representation of People of Color in Elected Office

Low-Income Uninsured Rate

Cost-Burdened Extremely Low-Income Renters

Extremely Low-Income Renters

Rural Broadband Access

Green Jobs

Low-Income Working Families with Kids

Solar Energy Systems

GDP Growth

Typical Wages for Black Workers

Voter Registration – Women

Women’s Incarceration Rate

Hispanic/Latino Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Bankruptcy Rate

Black Uninsured Rate

Seniors (65+) Voter Turnout

Student Loan Debt

Highway Traffic Fatalities

Black Incarceration Rate

Wage Gap

Typical Wages for Workers with Highschool Education

Food-Insecure Seniors

Typical Wages for Hispanic Workers

Public School Teacher Salary

Voter Registrations Rejected

Black Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Hispanic/Latino Incarceration Rate

Electricity Prices

Post-High School Educational Attainment

Households without Computers or Smartphones

Road Quality

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Voter Registration (Presidential Election)

Working Age Employment Rate

Broadband Subscriptions

Uninsured Rate

Black Voter Registration

Cost of Living

Voter Turnout – Women

Population Growth

Nursing Home Quality

Children in Food-Insecure Households

Violent Crime

Food Insecurity

Public Library Funding

Voter Turnout (Midterm Election)

Hispanic/Latino Uninsured Rate

Adults with Heart Disease

High School Graduation

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate

Volunteerism

Low-Wage Jobs

Low Birthweight

Seniors (65+) Voter Registration

Women Living in Poverty

Women Holding Elected Office

Provisional Ballots Cast

Uninsured Children

Children Receiving Public Assistance

Medical Debt in Collections for Communities of Color

Energy Expenditures Per Capita

Drug Deaths

Hispanic/Latino Voter Registration

Juvenile Detention Rate

Commuters Taking Transit to Work

Women Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Youth (18-24) Voter Turnout

Average Commute

Medical Debt in Collections

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Seniors Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Student Loan Holders in Default in Communities of Color

Home Ownership

Mental Health Providers

Homelessness

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate in Communities of Color

Adults on Probation & Parole

Student Loan Holders in Default

Women Judges

Adults with Diabetes

Hispanic/Latino Voter Turnout

Children in Poverty

Childhood Obesity

Adults Who Smoke

Cost-Burdened Homeowners

Infant Mortality

Incarceration Rate

Student-Teacher Ratio

Unemployment

Felon Disenfranchisement

Children in Households with High Housing Cost Burden

Unbanked Households

Financial Well-Being

Broadband Access (25 MBPS)

Typical Wages for Workers with Bachelors Education or Higher

Black Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Labor Force Participation Gender Gap

Underemployment

Rental Protections

Hispanic/Latino Post-High School Educational Attainment

Property Crime

Air Pollution

Children’s Medicaid/Chip Participation Rate

Women’s Uninsured Rate

Youth Unemployment

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.