Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Somerville grades D− overall, 164th of 175 graded towns in Tennessee, mostly because of health and schools. Residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its public schools trail 90% of Tennessee towns on state tests and graduation. It also has a long history, with 2 places on the National Register. 25% of residents live below the poverty line in Somerville, where Tennessee’s towns sit at 14% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Its National Register listings include Somerville Historic District and McFerren’s Grocery and Oil Company. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Somerville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Somerville Historic District| Widest gap | Somerville | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who have had a stroke | 5.6% | 3.7% |
Where Somerville’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 Somerville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,526 in 1860, a low of 777 in 1900, 3,415 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2012 and 2 maps from 1949 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Somerville, 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 Somerville.
Somerville draws workers from Oakland and beyond and fares better on crime within Tennessee than nationally, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
The nearest emergency room, West Tennessee Healthcare Bolivar Hospital, is 21.3 miles away in a straight line.
19% of Somerville adults have diabetes. Only 7 of the 176 Tennessee towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Somerville. 43% of Somerville adults have obesity.
| Somerville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 49% | 41% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Somerville | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 10.8% | 14.6% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.3% | 76.2% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 5.6% | 3.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Fayette County Public Schools. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buckley-Carpenter Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 491 | D |
| Fayette Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 569 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
2,292 jobs are based in Somerville, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 1,659 in 2013 to 2,292.
Most working residents leave Somerville for work: only 16% work in town. Somerville’s median household income is $44,000. Jobs based in Somerville grew to 2,292 in 2023, 633 more than in 2013.
| Somerville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $44,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 75% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 29.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 56% of Tennessee’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 92 to 28 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Somerville is 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Somerville | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.8 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Somerville has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 31° and about 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Somerville home is worth about $289,000, up 2.6% in a year, 13% below the Tennessee typical home. 56% of households own their home in Somerville.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Just 0 of its 8,733 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Somerville itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.6 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. I.P Yancey Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Somerville; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Somerville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Tennessee.
3,094 counted in 2010 and 3,415 in 2020; an estimated 3,622 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.7% since 2020, after 10.4% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
10 notable people were born in Somerville.
Town in Tennessee, United States
Somerville is a town in Fayette County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area. The population was 3,415 at the 2020 census, up from 3,094 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fayette County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Somerville grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #164 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D− for health, C for safety and D for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 4.3 years of the area's median household income ($66,401 across the Memphis, TN-MS-AR 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−.
10 notable people were born here, including Elizabeth Bolden and Carlos Clark.