Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 13,739, settled in 1949.
Powell is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B+ overall, 21st among Tennessee's 175 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $82K. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 66% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $360K, 5 years of the Knoxville metro’s $72K median household income. Powell has 2 places on the National Register. 4.1% of residents live below the poverty line in Powell, below both Tennessee’s towns (14%) and U.S. towns (9.6%).
Where Powell’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 Powell is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 5 maps from 1936 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Powell. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi Theme parkDollywood3.1M visitors a year
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaNeyland Stadium
Big draw24 mi National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park11.5M visitors a year
8 mi LookoutSunsphere
8 mi Stadium & arenaThompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
30 mi MuseumAlcatraz EastDollywood: Brian Stansberry (photographer), CC BY 2.5 · Neyland Stadium: Neomrbungle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Scott Basford, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sunsphere: Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center: TN 66, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alcatraz East: EricaLewHouse, CC BY-SA 4.0
Powell is unincorporated, so Knox County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Powell.
Powell looks healthier within Tennessee than nationally and has home values climbing faster than Tennessee’s, but it has little public open land.
3% of working residents work locally in Powell. Jobs in Powell grew by 549 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 2,607. Half the trips to work are shorter than 9 miles. The top destinations are Knoxville (43%), Oak Ridge (8%) and Clinton (3%).
| Powell | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 12% | 8% |
| Median household income | $82,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 12% | 9.5% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The largest public high school is Powell High School, with 1,253 students. The public schools here belong to the Knox County school district. Two of its 5 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powell ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 852 | B |
| Powell High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,253 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
Paid flood insurance claims in Powell since 1994: 30. Compared with 70% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is lower. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 50% come from inland flooding and 18% from tornadoes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Powell after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The range runs from 29° on a January night to 87° on a July afternoon, with about 4 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Home values rose 45% in five years, to about $361K, against 23% across Tennessee.
Powell’s typical rent stands at $1,276 a month. Home values are up 2.4% over the year to September 2026. Also worth knowing: the share of households in Powell who live in a home they own: 79%.
| Powell | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 79% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,276 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No age group stands out against Tennessee: all are within 4 points. 31% of Powell adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. In Powell, the median age is 37.5 years.
| Powell | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37.5 years | 40 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 23% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 18% | 18% |
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.6 points). Across Tennessee, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Powell | TN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.3% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.8% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 14.2% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.5% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.5% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.4% | 10% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.4% | 31.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.4% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.9% | 19.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.7% | 11.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Within Tennessee it is healthier than 78% of the 176 graded towns: much of Tennessee scores lower on these measures.
Among adults in Powell, 12% worry about having enough food. This Tennessee town does better than the Tennessee average on 6 of 31 CDC measures and worse on 1. Two figures for adults locally: 33% have obesity, 19% report frequent mental distress.
| Powell | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 29% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 39% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 39% | 36% |
| What stands out | Powell | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.4% | 16.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.1% | 9.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.2% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Just 3 of its 5,443 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Powell itself; its outdoors grade is D.
In Powell, the trail network density is 0.1 miles per square mile. Across 2 parks and preserves: 0.7 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Collier Preserve | 0.1 mi | 12 |
| 2. Powell Station Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Powell
About 10 of every 100 Powell residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
2 places in Powell on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Powell.
CDP in Tennessee, United States
Powell, formerly known as Powell Station, is a census-designated place in Knox County, Tennessee. The area is located in the Emory Road corridor (State Route 131), just north of Knoxville, southeast of Clinton, and east of Oak Ridge. It had a population of 13,802 during the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Powell.
Powell reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Powell with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Powell grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #21 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades B− for health 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.
3 notable people were born here, including Lee Smith and John Cooper.
