Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pigeon Forge earns a D−, ranked 159th of 175 in Tennessee, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 96% of U.S. towns, with 46 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: it has 9 miles of trail. 37% of working residents work locally in Pigeon Forge, above both Tennessee’s towns (12%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 3 of the 134 Tennessee towns we compare have a higher property crime rate than Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge Mill is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Pigeon Forge beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Pigeon Forge MillWhere Pigeon Forge’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Pigeon Forge is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,361 in 1970, 6,343 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 4 maps from 1935 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pigeon Forge. Close and well known come first.
Big drawin town Theme parkDollywood3.1M visitors a year
Big draw3 mi National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park11.5M visitors a year
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaNeyland Stadium
Big draw17 mi MountainKuwohi
in town MuseumAlcatraz East
25 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a yearDollywood: Brian Stansberry (photographer), CC BY 2.5 · Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Scott Basford, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Neyland Stadium: Neomrbungle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kuwohi: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr., Public domain · Alcatraz East: EricaLewHouse, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pigeon Forge, 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 Pigeon Forge.
Pigeon Forge draws workers from Sevierville and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Tennessee and reports property crime at about twice the Tennessee rate.
9.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in Pigeon Forge is 0.7 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Wear Farm City Park, at 32 acres.
| Pigeon Forge | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wear Farm City Park | 0.9 mi | 32 |
| 2. Patriot Park | 0.3 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Sevier County school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Pigeon Forge High School, with 448 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pigeon Forge PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 532 | C |
| Pigeon Forge Junior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–9 | Grades 7–9 | 495 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 34.5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Tennessee rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 309 to 269 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Pigeon Forge’s violent crime rate is 7.1 per 1,000 residents. Pigeon Forge reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 96% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
19% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge beats the Tennessee average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 77% of adults had a checkup this year in Pigeon Forge.
| Pigeon Forge | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 12% | 8.1% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 24% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pigeon Forge | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 18.8% | 11.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.3% | 14.6% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 21.4% | 16.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
13,725 jobs are based in Pigeon Forge, 5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 10,391 in 2013 to 13,725.
About one in 3 of Pigeon Forge’s working residents works in town. 21% of Pigeon Forge residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Pigeon Forge grew to 13,725 in 2023, 3,334 more than in 2013.
| Pigeon Forge | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 6.8 years of the Sevierville area’s $63K median household income, the typical home (about $424K) costs more against local pay than in 91% of Tennessee towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. The typical value, about $424K, is 21% below its July 2022 peak.
The typical Pigeon Forge home is worth about $424,000, down 1.4% in a year, 28% above the Tennessee typical home.
| Pigeon Forge | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 46% | 66% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,053 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Pigeon Forge has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 29° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
196 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 20 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 196 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pigeon Forge.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Pigeon Forge
About 3 of every 100 Pigeon Forge residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
City in Tennessee, United States
Pigeon Forge is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,343 at the 2020 census. Situated 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pigeon Forge is a tourist destination that caters primarily to Southern culture and country music fans. The city's attractions include Dollywood and Dollywood's Splash Country as well as numerous other museums, musical theaters, and shopping centers.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Pigeon Forge.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pigeon Forge | #159 | D− | C+ | D− | B− | D |
| Sevierville | #162 | D− | C | D | B− | D |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pigeon Forge grades D− overall, better than 4% of U.S. towns and #159 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 6.8 years of the area's median household income ($62,581 across the Sevierville, 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+.
