Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sparta grades D overall, 134th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns, mostly because of health and incomes. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 96% of the country. The median household income is $50K, and 14% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: its public schools beat 76% of Tennessee towns on state tests and graduation. Sparta has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Sparta Hydroelectric Station and Sparta Electric Building. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Among 177 Tennessee towns, just 10 have a lower average trip to work than Sparta.
Where Sparta beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Woodland Park Elementary | PK–5 | 509 |
| Findlay Elementary | PK–5 | 413 |
| White Co Middle School | 6–8 | 827 |
Where Sparta’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 Sparta is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 452 in 1860, 4,998 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1954 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sparta, 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 Sparta.
Sparta pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, draws workers from Cookeville and beyond and fares better on crime within Tennessee than nationally.
19% of Sparta adults report frequent physical distress, where Tennessee’s towns sit at 16% and U.S. towns at 14%. 23% of adults smoke cigarettes in Sparta. Sparta beats the Tennessee average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 15.
| Sparta | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Sparta | TN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79% | 76.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 26.4% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A− for schools comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $280K.
Its public schools are run by the White County school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Co Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 827 | B− |
| White County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,014 | C+ |
| Findlay ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 413 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
5,377 jobs are based in Sparta, 2.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 17.4 minutes, against 25.7 across Tennessee.
About one in 4 of Sparta’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Sparta grew to 5,377 in 2023, 937 more than in 2013. At $50,000, Sparta’s median household income is below both Tennessee’s towns ($61,000) and U.S. towns ($80,000).
| Sparta | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 12% | 8% |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 30.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 60% of Tennessee’s graded towns.
Sparta’s property crime rate is 25.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Sparta | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 25.5 per 1,000 residents | 11.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Sparta has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 28° and about 5 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Sparta home is worth about $280,000, up 5.3% in a year, 15% below the Tennessee typical home. The median rent in Sparta is $731 a month.
| Sparta | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $731 a month | $950 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 2017, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sparta.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 10 of its 4,282 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Sparta itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pearson Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Sparta; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Sparta residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
14 notable people were born in Sparta.
City in Tennessee, United States
Sparta is a city in and the county seat of White County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,001 in 2020. The Calfkiller River flows through the city. Seven sites in Sparta are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sparta grades D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns and #134 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D− for health, C for safety and A− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 5 years of the area's median household income ($55,380 across the Cookeville, 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 B.
14 notable people were born here, including James W. Throckmorton and Foster V. Brown.
