Should I Move To
Roughly 191,857 people live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Living here costs affordable relative to the rest of the country, 12% below the national average. Median rent runs about $1,043/mo; the typical household pulls in $48,309. On the UrbRank Score it pulls a 47/100 — a D, putting it at #603 nationally.
UrbRank Score · General
Each dimension scored 0-100 against every other US city.
Based on overall cost of living vs. other US cities.
Inverse of violent + property crime rate per 100,000 residents.
Temperate summers & winters, moderate precipitation.
Walk Score — how feasible daily errands are on foot.
Unemployment rate plus household income vs. national median.
Air quality index (EPA AQS data).
Share of residents 25+ with a bachelor's degree or higher.
By the composite index, Knoxville sits at 88 — affordable when stacked against the rest of the country. Running the rent-to-income math ($1,043/mo against $48,309 median household income), housing eats roughly 26% of a typical paycheck — right inside the standard 30%-of-income guideline. Buying-side, the median home value is $184,200.
Full cost-of-living breakdown →The weather here is four-season: roughly 87°F in summer, 32°F in winter. Annual precipitation lands near 52 inches. You'll need a car for most things, though the central core is more walkable than the citywide score suggests. Crime runs notably high by national standards. As always, neighborhood-level data tells a more nuanced story than the citywide figure. AQI runs about 45 — a "good" reading.
Verdict by lifestyle profile — same data, different priorities.
For families, Knoxville isn't the strongest match. The profile-weighted score is 52/100 — a C-. Its standout dimension is affordability (83/100); the soft spot is safety (14/100).
For retirees, Knoxville is workable — not standout, not weak. The profile-weighted score is 56/100 — a C. Its standout dimension is affordability (83/100); the soft spot is safety (14/100).
For remote workers, Knoxville is workable — not standout, not weak. The profile-weighted score is 59/100 — a C. Its standout dimension is affordability (83/100); the soft spot is safety (14/100).
For young professionals, Knoxville isn't the strongest match. The profile-weighted score is 47/100 — a D. Its standout dimension is affordability (83/100); the soft spot is safety (14/100).
Our overall score for Knoxville is 47/100 — a D, sitting at #603 in the national ranking. It's a weighted average across the seven UrbRank dimensions.
By the composite index, Knoxville sits at 88 — affordable, 12% below the national average. Median renter pays around $1,043 a month.
Knoxville runs four-season on the weather. Summer's near 87°F, winter's near 32°F; 52 inches of precipitation annually.
Walk Score: 37/100. You'll need a car for most things, though the central core is more walkable than the citywide score suggests.
Roughly 191,857 people live here, with 33% college-educated (bachelor's or higher) among adults 25+ with a median age of 33.
Drop Knoxville into the comparison tool with any other US city and you'll get housing costs, salaries, demographics, and quality-of-life data lined up side by side. Profile-specific leaderboards (families, retirees, remote workers, young professionals) are linked from the navigation.
Every US city is scored 0-100 on seven dimensions using public data from the US Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, FBI Crime Data Explorer, EPA Air Quality System, NOAA NCEI, and Walk Score. Each dimension is a percentile rank against every other city — so a score of 80 means the city is in the top 20% nationally on that dimension.
The overall score is a weighted average. Five lifestyle profiles — general, families, retirees, remote workers, young professionals — weight the dimensions differently to reflect what each cares about. Families get more weight on safety and schools; young professionals get more weight on jobs and walkability; retirees get more weight on climate.
Compare Knoxville with other Tennessee cities scored on UrbRank.
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