county

Polk County, TN

Demographic and economic profile of Polk County, TN, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Polk County is a small, rural county of 17,702 residents with an economy reflected in a GDP per capita of $19,710 and median household income of $62,522, well below state and national benchmarks. The labor pool is limited, with a 54.8% participation rate, only 14.7% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings of $38,934, though labor costs remain low. Housing is affordable—median home value of $136,400 and median gross rent of $668/month—and the county posted 5.5% population growth over five years, with an 84.1% homeownership rate signaling a predominantly owner-occupied, established residential base.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

17,702

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$62,522

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

46.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+5.5% since 2018

Polk County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone16,032 (89.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,131 (6.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races374 (2.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone160 (0.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone142 (0.8%)
  • Asian Alone53 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic229
  2. 2.Spanish170
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)22
  4. 4.Korean13
  5. 5.Other Indo-European8

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,029

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$19,710

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,714

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

13.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,721
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,322
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)821
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services670
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities627

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,545
  2. 2.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,368
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,359
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations1,320
  5. 5.Service Occupations954

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.00×)1,539
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.50×)677
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.22×)443
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.02×)543
  5. 5.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 0.96×)118

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$136,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$668/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

83.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,999787 (12.7%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999783 (12.6%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999579 (9.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999517 (8.3%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999456 (7.3%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999431 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

14.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

85.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

54.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,934

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone5,902 (79.9%)
  • Carpooled692 (9.4%)
  • Worked At Home616 (8.3%)
  • Walked150 (2.0%)
  • Other19 (0.3%)
  • Public Transit8 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.