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This page features an archived version of our State Dashboard from 2023.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

Voter Turnout – Women

Drug Deaths

Energy Expenditures Per Capita

Adult Obesity

Rural Broadband Access

Low Birthweight

Student-Teacher Ratio

Adults with Diabetes

Extremely Low-Income Renters

Typical Wages for Workers with Bachelors Education or Higher

Student Loan Holders in Default in Communities of Color

Unbanked Households

Childhood Obesity

Gigabyte Internet Availability

Low-Income Uninsured Rate

Solar Energy Systems

Foreclosures

Women’s Uninsured Rate

Road Quality

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate

Property Crime

Young Children Not in School

Home Ownership

Youth (18-24) Voter Registration

High School Graduation

Cost of Childcare (Infants)

Provisional Ballots Cast

Children in Households with High Housing Cost Burden

Labor Force Participation Gender Gap

Low-Income Working Families with Kids

Highway Traffic Fatalities

Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Hispanic/Latino Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Uninsured Children

Food-Insecure Seniors

Rental Protections

Children in Food-Insecure Households

Auto Loan Delinquency Rate in Communities of Color

Women’s Incarceration Rate

Typical Wages for Working Women

Children’s Medicaid/Chip Participation Rate

Felon Disenfranchisement

Typical Wages for Workers with Highschool Education

Hispanic/Latino Uninsured Rate

Income Inequality

Black Uninsured Rate

Voter Registration – Women

Homelessness

Black Voter Turnout

Student Loan Holders in Default

Poverty

Power Grid Reliability

Typical Wages for Hispanic Workers

Average Commute

Children Receiving Public Assistance

Youth Unemployment

Voter Turnout (Midterm Election)

Underemployment

Affordable Rental Shortage

Women Living in Poverty

Seniors in Good Health

Patents

Representation of People of Color in Elected Office

Youth (18-24) Voter Turnout

Adults on Probation & Parole

Adults Who Smoke

Recidivism

Violent Crime

Infant Mortality

Bankruptcy Rate

Able-Bodied Seniors

Leed Certified Buildings

Electricity Prices

Cost-Burdened Homeowners

Drinking Water Quality

Post-High School Educational Attainment

Population Growth

Broadband Access (25 MBPS)

Hispanic/Latino Post-High School Educational Attainment

Adults Without a High School Diploma

Hispanic/Latino Voter Turnout

Low-Wage Jobs

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Seniors Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Women Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Black Fourth-Grade Reading Proficiency

Broadband Subscriptions

Deficient Bridges

New Businesses

Uninsured Rate

Wage Gap

Medical Debt in Collections

Nursing Home Quality

Women Holding Elected Office

Women Judges

Children in Poverty

Adults with Heart Disease

Incarceration Rate

Black Incarceration Rate

Hispanic/Latino Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Air Pollution

Food Insecurity

Commuters Taking Transit to Work

Voter Registrations Rejected

Households without Computers or Smartphones

Voter Registration (Presidential Election)

Cost of Living

Working Age Employment Rate

Public School Teacher Salary

Juvenile Detention Rate

Cost-Burdened Extremely Low-Income Renters

Seniors (65+) Voter Turnout

Black Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Hispanic/Latino Incarceration Rate

Black Voter Registration

Voter Turnout (Presidential Election)

Volunteerism

Voter Registration (Midterm Election)

Public Library Funding

Seniors (65+) Voter Registration

Opioid Prescriptions

Mental Health Providers

Seniors Living in Poverty

Hispanic/Latino Voter Registration

Unemployment

Financial Well-Being

GDP Growth

Black Post-High School Educational Attainment

Median Household Income

Adults Avoiding Care Due to Cost

Student Loan Debt

Typical Wages for Black Workers

Green Jobs

Medical Debt in Collections for Communities of Color

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.