Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,049, settled in 1802. Public schools that outperform most of Tennessee.
Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Overall it grades C−, 122nd of 175 graded towns in Tennessee. Its public schools beat 92% of Tennessee towns on state tests and graduation. Its weakest subject is safety: it reports more crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns, including 28 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in Newport, above both Tennessee’s towns (14%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). On walkability, just 14 of Tennessee’s 292 towns do better. Newport has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hill-Hance House and Cocke County Memorial Building.
Where Newport beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Newport Grammar School | PK–8 | 730 |
| Cocke Co High School | 9–12 | 1,074 |
| Cocke Co Adult High School | 9–12 | 2 |
| Widest gap | Newport | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 27.4% | 14.6% |
Census counts: 281 in 1870, 6,868 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1940 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Newport is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Newport. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi Theme parkDollywood3.1M visitors a year
Big draw8 mi National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park11.5M visitors a year
Big draw32 mi MountainKuwohi
30 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
25 mi MountainMount Le Conte30 mi Theme parkGhost Town in the SkyDollywood: Brian Stansberry (photographer), CC BY 2.5 · Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Scott Basford, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kuwohi: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr., Public domain · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Mount Le Conte: No machine-readable author provided. Blinutne assumed (based on copyright claims, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Newport, 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 Newport.
Newport draws workers from Morristown and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the Tennessee rate.
Against the 704 U.S. towns with household incomes like Newport’s, it is less healthy than 70%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
43% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Newport. Only 10 of the 176 Tennessee towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Newport. Among adults in the town, 20% report frequent physical distress and 32% say their health is fair or poor.
| Newport | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 24% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 12% |
| What stands out | Newport | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 27.4% | 14.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 14.3% | 8.6% |
| More smokers | 25.5% | 17.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Two of the 3 schools are below, and why each made the list. The largest public high school is Cocke Co High School, with 1,074 students. Public schools: the Cocke County school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport Grammar SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 730 | B+ |
| Cocke Co High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,074 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests
Reported crimes fell from 416 to 258 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Only 5 of the 134 Tennessee towns we compare have a higher property offense rate than Newport. The town’s violent offense rate comes in at 4 per 1,000 residents.
| Newport | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 33 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
4,668 jobs are based in Newport, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Jobs in Newport fell by 641 from 2013 to 2023, to 4,668. Newport: 18% of working residents work locally. Half commute less than 22 miles. The top destinations are Knoxville (8%), Morristown (8%) and Sevierville (7%).
| Newport | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $31,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical rent for Newport comes to $720 a month. Home values are up 2.9% over the year to September 2026. The share of households in Newport who own their home: 56%.
| Newport | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $720 a month | $950 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A winter brings about 3 inches of snow, with January nights at 28° and July afternoons at 88°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The national flood insurance program has paid 15 claims in Newport since 1984. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in just over three fifths of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 64% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 10% to tornadoes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Walkers can cover 0.7 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Newport City Park, at 22 acres. Its trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Newport | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Newport City Park | 0.3 mi | 22 |
| 2. Bryant Town Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Newport; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Newport residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Tennessee.
Where Newport’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Newport on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Newport.
City and county seat of Cocke County, Tennessee, United States
Newport is a city in and the county seat of Cocke County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, Newport had a population of 6,868. Newport is located along the Pigeon River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Newport grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #122 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and A for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 4.7 years of the area's median household income ($48,016 across the Newport, 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 C+.
6 notable people were born here, including Ben W. Hooper and Kiffin Yates Rockwell.
