Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jackson earns a D−, 172nd of 175 graded towns in Tennessee, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 96% of U.S. towns, with 503 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. It also has a long history, with 28 places on the National Register. 60% of working residents work locally in Jackson, against 12% in Tennessee’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Bemis Historic District and Hollywood Cemetery. On walkability, just 17 of Tennessee’s 292 towns do better.
Where Jackson beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Jackson Free Library (Additional Documentation)
Its 27 National Register listings are more than in 95% of Tennessee towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,006 in 1850, 68,205 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 3 maps from 1950 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Jackson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jackson, 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 Jackson.
Jackson draws workers from Memphis and beyond and has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more.
Reported crimes fell from 3,058 to 2,335 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Only 9 of the 134 Tennessee towns we compare have a higher property offense rate than Jackson. Its violent offense rate comes in at 7.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Jackson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 26.3 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Three of its 25 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public schools: the Madison County school district. The 6 public schools in Jackson teach 3,824 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 804 | C− |
| North Side High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 903 | C− |
| Community Montessori SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 665 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
For adults in Jackson, the share who have high blood pressure is 44%. Only 7 of the 176 Tennessee towns we compare have a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Jackson. Also worth knowing: on the CDC’s 31 measures, Jackson is ahead of Tennessee on 3 and behind on 13. Two figures for adults in the town: 45% have obesity, 24% worry about having enough food.
| Jackson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 12% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 39% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 16% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Jackson | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12% | 14.6% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.1% | 8.2% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 14.5% | 9.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
52,337 jobs are based in Jackson, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.2 minutes, against 25.7 across Tennessee.
The average commute for Jackson comes to 18 minutes. The top destinations are Memphis (7%), Nashville (3%) and Humboldt (1%). Just over a fifth of residents live below the poverty line in the town. Half the trips to work are shorter than 5 miles.
| Jackson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Cypress Grove Park, at 127 acres with 1.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. There are 21 miles of trail across 12 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Jackson: 12, covering 411 acres.
| Jackson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.4% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. North Park | 1.2 mi | 60 |
| 2. Cypress Grove Park | 1.1 mi | 127 |
| 3. Liberty Park | 0.6 mi | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
On the market in Jackson: a median 51 days to sell. Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home lost 1.7% of its value. The share of renter households in Jackson who spend 30% or more of their income on rent: 56%.
| Jackson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 66% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 56% | 45% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,145 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jackson’s risk rating from FEMA is 71 of 100. The national flood insurance program has paid 84 claims locally since 1979. 55% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by tornadoes at 15%. Federal aid has come to Jackson households in 14 declared disasters; the latest was in 2026.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 29° and about 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jackson: 24% of residents are under 18. The age mix tracks Tennessee closely: no broad group is more than 4 points off. Its midpoint age comes in at 35.5 years. Here, 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 31% in Tennessee as a whole.
| Jackson | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 35.5 years | 40 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 23% | 29% |
53.4% women, 46.6% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Across Tennessee, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.0, men 34.0.
| Jackson | TN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.4% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.2% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.7% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.5% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.8% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.6% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.6% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10% | 10% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.7% | 31.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.3% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.3% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.2% | 19.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.5% | 11.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
3 within 15 miles of the center of Jackson
About 8 of every 100 Jackson residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
3 colleges in town.
27 places in Jackson on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Jackson.
City in Tennessee, United States
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located 70 miles (110 km) east of Memphis and 130 miles (210 km) southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, Madison County's largest city, and the second-largest city in West Tennessee after Memphis. It is home to the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for West Tennessee, as Jackson was the major city in the west when the court was established in 1834. In the antebellum era, Jackson was the market city for an agricultural area base…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Jackson grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #172 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D for health, D− for safety and D for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($61,177 across the Jackson, TN metro area).
48 notable people were born here, including Thomas Harris and Steve Fossett.
