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This page features an archived version of our State Dashboard from 2023.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

Typical Wages for Workers with Highschool Education

Public Library Funding

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate

Energy Expenditures Per Capita

Women Judges

Seniors (65+) Voter Registration

Post-High School Educational Attainment

Black Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Voter Turnout (Presidential Election)

Property Crime

Youth Unemployment

Youth (18-24) Voter Registration

Unemployment

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Voter Registration (Midterm Election)

Median Household Income

Wage Gap

Hispanic/Latino Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Black Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Hispanic/Latino Voter Registration

Cost-Burdened Extremely Low-Income Renters

Young Children Not in School

Childhood Obesity

Hispanic/Latino Voter Turnout

Low Birthweight

Highway Traffic Fatalities

Leed Certified Buildings

Opioid Prescriptions

Adult Obesity

Women’s Uninsured Rate

Medical Debt in Collections for Communities of Color

Seniors (65+) Voter Turnout

Voter Turnout (Midterm Election)

Incarceration Rate

Commuters Taking Transit to Work

Working Age Employment Rate

Public School Teacher Salary

Home Ownership

Volunteerism

Low-Income Uninsured Rate

Extremely Low-Income Renters

Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Food-Insecure Seniors

Adults on Probation & Parole

Hispanic/Latino Incarceration Rate

Children’s Medicaid/Chip Participation Rate

Electricity Prices

Low-Wage Jobs

High School Graduation

New Businesses

Black Uninsured Rate

Hispanic/Latino Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Women Holding Elected Office

Cost of Childcare (Infants)

Green Jobs

Women Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Student Loan Holders in Default in Communities of Color

Income Inequality

Student Loan Holders in Default

Patents

Affordable Rental Shortage

Poverty

Households without Computers or Smartphones

Infant Mortality

Road Quality

Gigabyte Internet Availability

Broadband Access (25 MBPS)

Hispanic/Latino Post-High School Educational Attainment

Juvenile Detention Rate

Youth (18-24) Voter Turnout

Rental Protections

Hispanic/Latino Uninsured Rate

Adults Without a High School Diploma

Children in Food-Insecure Households

Bankruptcy Rate

Foreclosures

Medical Debt in Collections

Representation of People of Color in Elected Office

Deficient Bridges

Women Living in Poverty

Mental Health Providers

Typical Wages for Hispanic Workers

Typical Wages for Working Women

Adults with Heart Disease

Financial Well-Being

Solar Energy Systems

Cost of Living

Provisional Ballots Cast

Children in Poverty

Student Loan Debt

Rural Broadband Access

Seniors Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Power Grid Reliability

Broadband Subscriptions

Air Pollution

Violent Crime

Voter Registration – Women

Recidivism

Unbanked Households

Typical Wages for Workers with Bachelors Education or Higher

Children in Households with High Housing Cost Burden

Black Voter Registration

Felon Disenfranchisement

Uninsured Children

Typical Wages for Black Workers

Food Insecurity

Women’s Incarceration Rate

Nursing Home Quality

Voter Registrations Rejected

Black Incarceration Rate

Voter Registration (Presidential Election)

Cost-Burdened Homeowners

Children Receiving Public Assistance

Able-Bodied Seniors

Uninsured Rate

Seniors Living in Poverty

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate in Communities of Color

Low-Income Working Families with Kids

Underemployment

Seniors in Good Health

Labor Force Participation Gender Gap

Average Commute

Adults with Diabetes

Voter Turnout – Women

Homelessness

Black Post-High School Educational Attainment

Drug Deaths

Adults Who Smoke

GDP Growth

Population Growth

Black Voter Turnout

Student-Teacher Ratio

Drinking Water Quality

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.