Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jefferson City is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 80th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools outperform 56% of the state's. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $61K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line. A typical home there costs about $308K, 5.1 years of the Morristown metro’s $61K median household income. On hazard risk, just 10 of Tennessee’s 292 towns do better. Jefferson City is home to Carson-Newman University. On walkability, just 18 of Tennessee’s 292 towns do better.
Where Jefferson City beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Jefferson City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,328 in 1910, 8,419 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1855 and 2 maps from 1935 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jefferson City, 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 Jefferson City.
Jefferson City fares better on crime within Tennessee than nationally and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Federal aid has come to Jefferson City households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2011. Compared with nearly four fifths of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is lower. Since 1984, Jefferson City has seen 4 flood insurance claims paid out. FEMA puts 41% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 33% to earthquakes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The Jefferson County school district runs its public schools. 2 public schools serve Jefferson City, with 995 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 528 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
At 29.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 56% of Tennessee’s graded towns.
Jefferson City’s rate of thefts and burglaries comes in at 22.9 per 1,000 residents. The rate of reported violence for Jefferson City comes to 2.2 per 1,000 residents, near both the Tennessee town median (2.7) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6).
| Jefferson City | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22.9 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The range runs from 28° on a January night to 87° on a July afternoon, with about 10 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Count the trails in 6 parks and preserves and they come to 1.2 miles. The biggest park or preserve is Centennial Park, at 21 acres. For Jefferson City, the trail density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Jefferson City | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.3% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Centennial Park | 0.6 mi | 21 |
| 2. Johnson Ball Park | 0.5 mi | 16 |
| 3. Nelson Merry Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Half the trips to work are shorter than 19 miles. Since 2013, Jefferson City has added 782 jobs, to 5,042 in 2023. Commuting out is the norm locally: 14% of working residents work locally. The top destinations are Morristown (18%), Knoxville (16%) and Sevierville (5%).
| Jefferson City | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 9,100 U.S. towns with household incomes like Jefferson City’s, it is healthier than 59%, 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.
The share of adults in Jefferson City who sleep under 7 hours: 35%. CDC measures, 31 in all: Jefferson City beats Tennessee on 2 and trails on 2. 22% of Jefferson City adults report frequent mental distress, above both Tennessee’s towns (20%) and U.S. towns (17%).
| Jefferson City | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 29% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 39% | 36% |
| What stands out | Jefferson City | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 11.4% | 13.6% |
| Fewer adults with high blood pressure | 35% | 39.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.7% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Jefferson City home is worth about $308,000, up 1.2% in a year, 7% below the Tennessee typical home. Jefferson City: just over half of households are owner-occupiers. Its midpoint rent comes in at $851 a month.
| Jefferson City | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $851 a month | $950 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Jefferson City
About 14 of every 100 Jefferson City residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
4 places in Jefferson City on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Jefferson City.
City in Jefferson County, Tennessee, United States
Jefferson City (originally named Mossy Creek) is a city in Jefferson County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Morristown metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,419.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Jefferson City.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson City | #80 | C | B− | C | B | C+ |
| New Market | — | — | A | — | B | C− |
| Morristown | #149 | D | B | D | C+ | D− |
| Dandridge | #83 | C | B | C+ | B | C− |
New Market has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. New Market reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Jefferson City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Jefferson City grades C overall, better than 33% of U.S. towns and #80 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades C+ for health, C for safety and B for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
9 notable people were born here, including Mark Dean and Phil Garner.
