Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rogersville gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $234K, 4 years of the Kingsport metro’s $58K median household income. It grades C− overall, 129th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 91% of the country, and the median household income is $48K, and 16% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Only 3 of Tennessee’s 292 towns score higher on walkability. Rogersville has 5 places on the National Register. Among 174 Tennessee towns, just 5 have a lower median rent than Rogersville.
Where Rogersville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Rogersville Historic District
Its founding year, 1775, is the earliest of any Tennessee town we grade.
Census counts: 657 in 1870, 4,671 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1882 and 4 maps from 1935 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Rogersville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rogersville, 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 Rogersville.
Rogersville carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Tennessee (mostly inland flooding), draws workers from Church Hill and beyond and fares better on crime within Tennessee than nationally.
4,521 jobs are based in Rogersville, 2.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
27% of Rogersville working residents work locally, where Tennessee’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 8%. The average trip to work in Rogersville is 28 minutes. Since 2013, Rogersville has lost 693 jobs, to 4,521 in 2023.
| Rogersville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 12% | 8% |
| Median household income | $48,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Hawkins County school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rogersville ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 644 | B |
| Pathways Alternative SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | – | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests
Against the 4,841 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rogersville’s, it is less healthy than 72%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income. Within Tennessee it is less healthy than 69% of the 176 graded towns: much of Tennessee scores lower on these measures.
44% of Rogersville adults have high blood pressure, above both Tennessee’s towns (41%) and U.S. towns (35%). 18% of Rogersville adults report frequent physical distress. Rogersville beats the Tennessee average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 10.
| Rogersville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 41% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 29% | 23% |
| What stands out | Rogersville | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79.9% | 76.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.8% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 93% of Tennessee towns, with expected losses of about $252 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Rogersville’s FEMA risk score is 16 of 100. Since 1997, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rogersville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 31.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 60% of Tennessee’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 146 to 92 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Home values rose 42% in five years, to about $234K, against 23% across Tennessee.
54% of households own their home in Rogersville. Typical home values rose 5.4% in the year to September 2026.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 27.4°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 85% of Tennessee places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.7°.
Rogersville has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Rogersville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 87°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 27°F | 29°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.2 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Rogersville Park, at 49 acres.
| Rogersville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.6% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rogersville Park | — | 49 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Rogersville; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Rogersville residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
Where Rogersville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Rogersville on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Rogersville.
Town in the United States
Rogersville is a town in and the county seat of Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers. Tennessee's second oldest courthouse, the Hawkins County Courthouse, first newspaper The Knoxville Gazette, and first post office are all located in Rogersville. The Rogersville Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rogersville is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Tri-Cities region. As of the 2020 census, Rogersville had a population of 4,671.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Rogersville.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogersville | #129 | C− | B | C | C+ | D |
| Surgoinsville | — | — | A− | — | B− | D− |
Surgoinsville has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Surgoinsville reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Rogersville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rogersville grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #129 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D for health, C for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
14 notable people were born here, including Alexander P. Stewart and Ruth Hale.
