Jefferson County, Tennessee

County Distress Index: Elevated · 53.8 | 57,838 people · 69th most distressed in Tennessee

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Jefferson County, TN registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 53.8 — 1309th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Community Vulnerability, where uninsured and disability rates are well above the national average. Within Tennessee, it ranks 69th of 95 counties. Among its 5 neighboring counties, 3 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Jefferson County's primary driver is Community Vulnerability at 70.1 — above the national median.

Community Vulnerability Primary driver 70.1
Uninsured Rate 62
Disability Rate 78
Debt & Delinquency 63.8
Debt in Collections 68
Medical Debt 88
Student Loan Delinquency 36
Auto Loan Delinquency 44
Credit Card Delinquency 58
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 88
Housing Cost Burden 48.4
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 49
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 47
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 37
Homeownership Rate 52
Rent-to-Income Ratio 56
Employment & Wages 44.4
Unemployment Rate 30
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 46
Business Formation Rate 57
Income & Poverty 42.2
Poverty Rate 45
Income vs. State Median 31
Child Poverty Rate 51

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Jefferson County compares to its 5 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Jefferson County
Jefferson County, TN 53.8 Elevated
Cocke County, TN 75.6 Serious +21.8
Hamblen County, TN 67.5 Serious +13.8
Grainger County, TN 54.8 Elevated +1.0
Sevier County, TN 52.8 Elevated -0.9
Knox County, TN 46.5 Normal -7.3

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Jefferson County
Allen County, OH 53.8 Elevated +0.0
Crawford County, AR 53.7 Elevated -0.1
Catoosa County, GA 53.7 Elevated -0.1
Franklin County, NC 53.7 Elevated -0.1
Lowndes County, MS 53.6 Elevated -0.1

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