Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Morristown grades D overall, 149th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns, mostly because of health and safety. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 98% of the country. It reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, including 173 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. 46% of working residents work locally in Morristown, against 12% in Tennessee’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include St. Paul Presbyterian Church and Bethesda Presbyterian Church (Additional Documentation). The median household income is $48K, and 26% of residents live below the poverty line.
Where Morristown beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Bethesda Presbyterian Church (Additional Documentation)| Widest gap | Morristown | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 20.8% | 11.6% |
Census counts: 500 in 1860, 30,431 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 3 maps from 1935 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Morristown is from typical.
Its grades run from A for hazard risk (better than 92% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 2%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Morristown, 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 Morristown.
Morristown carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Tennessee (mostly inland flooding) and draws workers from Jefferson City and beyond, but it has poverty well above the Tennessee rate.
For adults in Morristown, the share who had a checkup this year is 77%. Among 176 Tennessee towns, just 5 have a higher share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Morristown. A fifth of adults in Morristown report frequent physical distress; 23% smoke cigarettes.
| Morristown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 12% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 24% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 14% |
| What stands out | Morristown | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 20.8% | 11.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.9% | 14.6% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 25.1% | 16.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Three of its 20 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The public schools here belong to the Hamblen County school district. Public school enrollment in Morristown: 3,409 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 647 | C |
| Morristown East HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,468 | B− |
| Alpha ElementaryTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 595 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
30,047 jobs are based in Morristown, 2.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Morristown rose by 3,156, to 30,047. In Morristown, the mean commuting time is 22 minutes. The median commute is under 9 miles. The share of workers in Morristown who work from home: 3.3%.
| Morristown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 3.3% | 9.6% | 11% |
| Median household income | $48,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 1,182 to 876 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Morristown’s property offense rate comes in at 20.9 per 1,000 residents. For Morristown, the level of violent crime is 5.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Morristown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20.9 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Trails run 11 miles in 15 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Frank Lorino Park, at 105 acres. Parks and preserves in Morristown: 15, covering 290 acres.
| Morristown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.1% | 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. Wayne Hansard Park | 1.3 mi | 67 |
| 2. Frank Lorino Park | 0.3 mi | 105 |
| 3. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park | 0.3 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 97% of Tennessee towns, with expected losses of about $156 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Households in Morristown have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. In Morristown, the FEMA risk score is 10 of 100. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1980: 18. 48% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 25%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A winter brings about 9 inches of snow, with January nights at 28° and July afternoons at 87°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Morristown’s median rent stands at $882 a month. Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 2.5% in value. 55% of Morristown households are owner-occupiers.
| Morristown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $882 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 Morristown
About 3 of every 100 Morristown residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
12 places in Morristown on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Morristown.
Largest city and county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States
Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city lies within the Ridge and Valley region of the Appalachians, along Cherokee Lake on the Holston River. The city's population was recorded to be 30,431 at the 2020 United States census. It is the principal city of the Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses Hamblen and Jefferson counties. (Grainger County was included in the metropolitan area until 2023). The Morristown metropolitan area is also part of the Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville Combined Statistical Area. Established in 1855, Morristown…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Morristown.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morristown | #149 | D | B | D | C+ | D− |
| Russellville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jefferson City | #80 | C | B− | C | B | C+ |
Russellville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Morristown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Morristown grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #149 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D− for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 4.3 years of the area's median household income ($60,553 across the Morristown, TN metro 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.
13 notable people were born here, including Jane Wagner and James Henry Mays.
