Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Cookeville is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 114th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its public schools beat 63% of Tennessee towns on state tests and graduation. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $319K, 5.8 years of the Cookeville area’s $55K median household income. 49% of working residents work locally in Cookeville, above both Tennessee’s towns (12%) and U.S. towns (8%). On walkability, just 11 of Tennessee’s 292 towns do better. Cookeville has 10 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Cookeville Railroad Depot and Broad Street Church of Christ.
Where Cookeville beats most towns.
Arcade, The
Census counts: 156 in 1870, 34,842 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1953 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Cookeville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cookeville, 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 Cookeville.
Cookeville draws workers from Algood and beyond, fares better on crime within Tennessee than nationally and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
32,423 jobs are based in Cookeville, 2.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.9 minutes, against 25.7 across Tennessee.
24% of residents live below the poverty line in Cookeville. Since 2013, Cookeville has added 5,655 jobs, to 32,423 in 2023. The average trip to work in Cookeville is 19 minutes.
| Cookeville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 24% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Putnam County school district. Three of its 12 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prescott South Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 813 | B |
| Cookeville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,241 | B |
| Capshaw ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 515 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
Only 41.1% of households own their home, against 66.9% across Tennessee.
Cookeville’s median age is 29.8 years. Cookeville has grown 9.7% since 2020, to 38,212 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 14% of Cookeville residents are 65 or older.
| Cookeville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 29.8 years | 40 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 23% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.3 points. Across Tennessee, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 32.4, men 27.4.
| Cookeville | TN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.2% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 23.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.4% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.5% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.7% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.6% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.7% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.6% | 10% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.6% | 31.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.9% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.1% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.4% | 19.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.4% | 11.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 27.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 53% of Tennessee’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 840 to 659 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 27.8°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 76% of Tennessee places with climate records; July afternoons average 87.1°.
Cookeville has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Cookeville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 87°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 28°F | 29°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 6,264 U.S. towns with household incomes like Cookeville’s, it is healthier than 74%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income. Within Tennessee it is healthier than 70% of the 176 graded towns: much of Tennessee scores lower on these measures.
Among 176 Tennessee towns, just 5 have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Cookeville. Cookeville beats the Tennessee average on 6 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 6.
| Cookeville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 29% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 78% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 41% | 35% |
| What stands out | Cookeville | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 10.9% | 13.6% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 25.7% | 30.6% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 11.3% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1998, 21 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cookeville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5.5 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Cane Creek Park, at 147 acres.
| Cookeville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dogwood Park | 0.6 mi | 11 |
| 2. Lab Science Commons Yard | 0.4 mi | 3 |
| 3. President's Yard | 0.3 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Cookeville home is worth about $319,000, up 1.3% in a year, close to the Tennessee typical home.
| Cookeville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 41% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $917 a month | $950 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Cookeville
College town 19 of every 100 Cookeville residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
10 places in Cookeville on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Cookeville.
Largest city and county seat of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States
Cookeville is the county seat of and the largest city in Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was reported to be 34,842. It is recognized as one of the country's micropolitan areas, smaller cities that function as significant regional economic hubs. Of Tennessee's 20 micropolitan areas, Cookeville is the largest. At the 2020 census, the Cookeville micropolitan area's population was 141,333. The U.S. Census Bureau ranked the Cookeville micropolitan area as the 4th largest-gaining micropolitan area in the country between 2022 and 2023, with a one-year gain of 2,748 and a 2023 population of 148,226. The city is a college town, home to Ten…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Cookeville.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookeville | #114 | C− | C− | C | B | C+ |
| Algood | #105 | C− | C+ | B− | B | C− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cookeville grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #114 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades C+ for health, C for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
15 notable people were born here, including JJ Redick and John W. Rose.
