Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 15,263, settled in 1822. A regional job hub with 12,135 jobs.
Athens grades C− overall, 109th of 175 graded towns in Tennessee, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools outperform 88% of the state's. On the other side, CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 94% of the country. 33% of working residents work locally in Athens, where Tennessee’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 8%. Athens is home to Tennessee Wesleyan University. Athens's police reported 63 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 91% of U.S. towns.
Where Athens beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Athens City Primary | PK–2 | 657 |
| Athens City Intermediate | 3–5 | 572 |
| Athens City Middle School | 6–8 | 519 |
Census counts: 678 in 1860, 14,084 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1820 and 4 maps from 1935 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Athens is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Athens, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Athens.
Athens draws workers from Etowah and beyond and has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more.
12,135 jobs are based in Athens, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Athens’s working residents works in town. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Athens. The top destinations are Chattanooga (8%), Cleveland (7%) and Nashville (4%).
| Athens | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 4.9% | 9.6% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $54,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Athens school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is McMinn High School, with 1,272 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athens City PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 657 | – |
| McMinn High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,272 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests
47% of Athens adults have obesity. Athens beats the Tennessee average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 15% of Athens adults have diabetes.
| Athens | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 39% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 20% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Athens | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.7% | 14.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.7% | 8.6% |
| More adults with obesity | 46.5% | 37.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 612 to 480 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Athens’ property crime rate is 27.3 per 1,000 residents. Athens reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 91% report less. Athens’ violent crime rate is 4.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Athens | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 27.3 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
5.1 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Regional Park, at 160 acres with 4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Athens | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Regional Park | 4 mi | 160 |
| 2. Heritage Park | — | 8 |
| 3. McMinn Field | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Athens home is worth about $260,000, up 2.1% in a year, 22% below the Tennessee typical home. The median rent in Athens is $846 a month.
| Athens | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $846 a month | $950 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Athens has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 30° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Tennessee average. Athens has grown 8.3% since 2020, to 15,263 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 23% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across Tennessee.
| Athens | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 39 years | 40 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 23% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Tennessee, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 42.2, men 34.5.
| Athens | TN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.5% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.6% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.8% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.6% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.4% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.1% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.1% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.5% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.3% | 10% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.7% | 31.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.1% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.7% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.6% | 19.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.6% | 11.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1984, 24 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Athens.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Athens
About 6 of every 100 Athens residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Tennessee.
Where Athens’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
7 places in Athens on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Athens.
City in Tennessee, United States
Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee, United States and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 53,569. The city is located almost equidistantly between the major cities of Knoxville and Chattanooga. The population was 14,084 at the 2020 census. The population estimate for 2024 was 15,050 for the U.S census
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Athens grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #109 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D for health, D for safety and A for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($61,438 across the Athens, TN area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
6 notable people were born here, including John Tyler Morgan and W. Reece Smith, Jr..
