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This page features an archived version of our State Dashboard from 2023.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

Adults Who Smoke

Juvenile Detention Rate

Rural Broadband Access

Felon Disenfranchisement

Green Jobs

Patents

Black Post-High School Educational Attainment

Air Pollution

Uninsured Rate

Food Insecurity

Bankruptcy Rate

Wage Gap

Seniors (65+) Voter Registration

Opioid Prescriptions

Population Growth

Women Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Leed Certified Buildings

Incarceration Rate

Women Holding Elected Office

Able-Bodied Seniors

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate

Representation of People of Color in Elected Office

Hispanic/Latino Voter Turnout

Youth (18-24) Voter Registration

Cost-Burdened Extremely Low-Income Renters

Unemployment

Black Uninsured Rate

Financial Well-Being

Typical Wages for Black Workers

Young Children Not in School

Childhood Obesity

Student Loan Holders in Default in Communities of Color

New Businesses

Typical Wages for Workers with Highschool Education

Homelessness

Voter Turnout (Presidential Election)

Hispanic/Latino Incarceration Rate

Median Household Income

Youth (18-24) Voter Turnout

Rental Protections

Public Library Funding

Foreclosures

Children in Households with High Housing Cost Burden

Broadband Access (25 MBPS)

Power Grid Reliability

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate in Communities of Color

Medical Debt in Collections

Student Loan Debt

Solar Energy Systems

Infant Mortality

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Public School Teacher Salary

Women Judges

Households without Computers or Smartphones

Gigabyte Internet Availability

Unbanked Households

Adults on Probation & Parole

Low-Income Uninsured Rate

Youth Unemployment

Road Quality

Black Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Voter Registration (Presidential Election)

Provisional Ballots Cast

Uninsured Children

Cost-Burdened Homeowners

Mental Health Providers

Seniors Living in Poverty

Highway Traffic Fatalities

Underemployment

Voter Turnout (Midterm Election)

Adults with Heart Disease

Nursing Home Quality

Working Age Employment Rate

Women Living in Poverty

Voter Registration (Midterm Election)

Typical Wages for Working Women

Affordable Rental Shortage

Average Commute

Post-High School Educational Attainment

Student Loan Holders in Default

Voter Turnout – Women

Seniors (65+) Voter Turnout

Low Birthweight

Violent Crime

Low-Wage Jobs

Food-Insecure Seniors

Children’s Medicaid/Chip Participation Rate

Hispanic/Latino Voter Registration

Recidivism

Electricity Prices

Hispanic/Latino Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Children in Food-Insecure Households

Labor Force Participation Gender Gap

Seniors in Good Health

Drug Deaths

Women’s Uninsured Rate

Seniors Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Volunteerism

GDP Growth

Black Incarceration Rate

Typical Wages for Hispanic Workers

Cost of Living

Black Voter Registration

Adults Without a High School Diploma

Voter Registrations Rejected

High School Graduation

Deficient Bridges

Hispanic/Latino Post-High School Educational Attainment

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Black Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Student-Teacher Ratio

Home Ownership

Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Hispanic/Latino Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Medical Debt in Collections for Communities of Color

Typical Wages for Workers with Bachelors Education or Higher

Broadband Subscriptions

Cost of Childcare (Infants)

Commuters Taking Transit to Work

Income Inequality

Property Crime

Low-Income Working Families with Kids

Extremely Low-Income Renters

Children in Poverty

Adults with Diabetes

Voter Registration – Women

Children Receiving Public Assistance

Drinking Water Quality

Women’s Incarceration Rate

Poverty

Black Voter Turnout

Adult Obesity

Energy Expenditures Per Capita

Hispanic/Latino Uninsured 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.