Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Dyersburg earns a D−, 166th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. Its police reported 152 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 99% of U.S. towns. Residents are less healthy than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. It also has a long history, with 7 places on the National Register. 46% of working residents work locally in Dyersburg, above both the Tennessee town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Only 3 of Tennessee’s 292 towns score lower on hazard risk. Dyersburg is home to Dyersburg State Community College.
Where Dyersburg beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Bank of Dyersburg
Census counts: 683 in 1870, 16,164 in 2020. The archive holds 28 old photos and papers going back to 1836 and 4 maps from 1939 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 Dyersburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dyersburg, 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 Dyersburg.
Dyersburg draws workers from Newbern and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Tennessee (mostly earthquakes).
16 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. Dyersburg Activity Center, at 26 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. The density of trails for Dyersburg comes to 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Dyersburg | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dyersburg Activity Center | 1 mi | 26 |
| 2. South Dyersburg Park | 0.5 mi | 10 |
| 3. Okeena Park | 0.3 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The largest public high school is Dyersburg High School, with 680 students. The public schools here belong to the Dyersburg school district. Two of its 5 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dyersburg PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 744 | – |
| Dyersburg High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 680 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 40.5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Tennessee rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 1,001 to 794 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Dyersburg’s violent crime rate stands at 9.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Dyersburg | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 40.5 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Dyersburg: just over a fifth of adults worry about having enough food. Among 176 Tennessee towns, just 8 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Dyersburg. 16% of adults in the town have diabetes; 44% have high blood pressure.
| Dyersburg | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 36% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 41% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Dyersburg | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 21.7% | 16.2% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 12.1% | 9.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.8% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
12,373 jobs are based in Dyersburg, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 16.8 minutes, against 25.7 across Tennessee.
Only 7 of the 177 Tennessee towns we compare have a lower mean commuting time than Dyersburg. Among residents in the town, 22% live below the poverty line. Half commute less than 8 miles. Its median household income comes in at $52,000.
| Dyersburg | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 2.9 years of the Dyersburg area’s $58K median household income, the typical home (about $169K) costs less against local pay than in 94% of Tennessee towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
In Dyersburg, the going rate for rent is $782 a month. Values rose 2.2% in the 12 months to September 2026. For households in the town, the share who live in a home they own is 48%.
| Dyersburg | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $782 a month | $950 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of Tennessee towns, with expected losses of about $1,454 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Households in Dyersburg have drawn federal disaster aid in 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2026. FEMA puts nearly three quarters of the town’s expected hazard losses down to earthquakes, and 9% to tornadoes. 116 flood insurance claims have been paid in the town since 1978.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A winter brings about 4 inches of snow, with January nights at 29° and July afternoons at 89°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
By age, Dyersburg looks like Tennessee: each broad group is within 4 points. In Dyersburg, 25% of residents are under 18. The town’s age of the median resident is 41.5 years.
| Dyersburg | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 22% | 23% | 29% |
| Median age | 41.5 years | 40 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 18% | 18% |
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.3 points). Across Tennessee, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Dyersburg | TN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.8% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.2% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.2% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.4% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.6% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.6% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.8% | 10% | 10.4% |
| High school | 40.3% | 31.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.6% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.4% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.7% | 19.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.2% | 11.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
1 within 15 miles of the center of Dyersburg
About 3 of every 100 Dyersburg residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
7 places in Dyersburg on the National Register of Historic Places.
16 notable people were born in Dyersburg.
City in Tennessee, United States
Dyersburg is a city in and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, 79 miles (127 km) northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 16,164 at the 2020 census, down 5.72% from the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Dyersburg grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #166 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D for health, D− for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.9 years of the area's median household income ($58,154 across the Dyersburg, 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.
16 notable people were born here, including William Howard Arnold and Harry Ford.
