Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Dickson gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $341K for a typical one, or 4 years of the Nashville metro’s $85K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 71st among Tennessee's 175 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its crime rate is higher than 87% of U.S. towns, with 62 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 26% of working residents work locally in Dickson, where Tennessee’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 8%. The biggest park or preserve is Henslee Park, at 120 acres.
Where Dickson beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Centennial Elementary | PK–5 | 713 |
| Oakmont Elementary | PK–5 | 482 |
| Dickson Elementary | PK–5 | 229 |
First National Bank of DicksonWhere Dickson’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Dickson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 938 in 1890, 16,058 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 4 maps from 1936 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dickson, 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 Dickson.
Dickson trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Nashville and beyond and looks healthier within Tennessee than nationally.
11,862 jobs are based in Dickson, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Jobs based in Dickson grew to 11,862 in 2023, 1,727 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Nashville (27%), Franklin (4%) and Clarksville (2%).
| Dickson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $70,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Dickson County school district. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Dickson County High School, with 1,337 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centennial ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 713 | A |
| Dickson County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,337 | C+ |
| The Discovery SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 202 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 615 to 392 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Dickson is 19.3 per 1,000 residents. Dickson reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less. The violent crime rate in Dickson is 3.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Dickson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19.3 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within Tennessee it is healthier than 59% of the 176 graded towns: much of Tennessee scores lower on these measures.
Dickson tracks Tennessee closely on all 31 CDC measures. 29% of Dickson adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Dickson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 29% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
January nights average 27.4°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 85% of Tennessee places with climate records; July afternoons average 88.1°.
Dickson has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. About 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Dickson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 88°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 27°F | 29°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1989, 31 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dickson.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Dickson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.2% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Henslee Park | — | 120 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes are within reach (about $341K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 31 miles.
The typical Dickson home is worth about $341,000, up 1.6% in a year, close to the Tennessee typical home. 62% of households own their home in Dickson.
| Dickson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,063 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Dickson; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Dickson residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Tennessee.
14,538 counted in 2010 and 16,058 in 2020; an estimated 17,051 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 6.1% since 2020, after 10.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
4 places in Dickson on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Dickson.
City in Tennessee, United States
Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in Dickson County. It is part of the Nashville metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, Dickson's population was 16,058.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Dickson.
Burns has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Burns reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Dickson with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Dickson grades C+ overall, better than 39% of U.S. towns and #71 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades C for health, D for safety and B+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the 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+.
10 notable people were born here, including Frank G. Clement and Douglas S. Jackson.
