Chattanooga is located in Hamilton County, Tennessee on Nickajack Lake and Chickamauga Lake in East Tennessee. Chattanooga is located about 120 miles southwest of Knoxville and 120 miles northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. Chattanooga has a population of 180,557, which makes it the 4th largest city in Tennessee.
The city proper has a population density of 1,223 people per square mile (472/square kilometer). The larger Chattanooga metropolitan area has a population of 528,000. The Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which includes Marion, Sequatchie, and Hamilton counties in Tennessee as well as Dade, Catoosa, and Walker counties in Georgia, had a 9% population growth over the last ten years.
Females make up 53% of the population in Chattanooga. 60% of the population over the age of 16 is employed.
Chattanooga is unique as it's the first American city to receive its typeface, called Chatype. Launched in 2012, this is the first time a custom crowd-funded typeface has been used for any global city.
Chattanooga also claims to have Western Hemisphere's fastest internet service, earning it several nicknames like Gig City. EPB began offering exclusive fiber optic network service to the greater Chattanooga metro area in 2009. The next year, it became the first municipality-owned utility company in the country to offer internet access directly to the public with speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second. This network has already been emulated in several U.S. cities and internationally.
Chattanooga is home to a considerable number of manufacturing and service industries, including Chattem, the first Coca-Cola bottling plant in the world; the Chattanooga Bakery, and McKee Foods Corporation, which makes Little Debbie brand snacks. The city is home to many distribution and manufacturing facilities as well, including Ferrara Candy Company, DuPont, and Amazon.com.
Since the 2010 census, Chattanooga's population growth has outpaced Knoxville, making it the second fastest-growing big city in Tennessee. While Knoxville is still ahead of Chattanooga in terms of total population at 184,280 versus 173,800 in mid-2014, Chattanooga may soon surpass Knoxville as the largest city in East Tennessee.
Chattanooga is mainly attracting new residents with its low cost of living and diverse economy and jobs market. Chattanooga's population growth has outpaced the national average for more than 20 years, and this trend is expected to continue.
Chattanooga, Tennessee's estimated population is 180,557 according to the most recent United States census estimates. Chattanooga, Tennessee is the 4th largest city in Tennessee based on official 2017 estimates from the US Census Bureau.
The population density is 1262.55 people/mi² (487.47 people/km²).
The overall median age is 37 years, 36 years for males, and 38.2 years for females. For every 100 females there are 88.3 males.
Based on data from the American Community Survey, in 2017 there were 82,036 households in the city, with an average size of 2.35 people per household. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3%, with a median rent of $785/month. The median house has 5.2 rooms, and has a value of $153,900.
The median income for households in Chattanooga, Tennessee is $41,911, while the mean household income is $62,574.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Chattanooga was:
| Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
| 2018 | 180,557 | 1,660 | 0.93% |
| 2017 | 178,897 | 1,793 | 1.01% |
| 2016 | 177,104 | 1,253 | 0.71% |
| 2015 | 175,851 | 1,390 | 0.80% |
| 2014 | 174,461 | -369 | -0.21% |
| 2013 | 174,830 | 1,178 | 0.68% |
| 2012 | 173,652 | 1,620 | 0.94% |
| 2011 | 172,032 | 1,473 | 0.86% |
| 2010 | 170,559 | 15,005 | 0.93% |
| 2000 | 155,554 | 3,088 | 0.20% |
| 1990 | 152,466 | -17,048 | -1.05% |
| 1980 | 169,514 | 49,591 | 3.52% |
| 1970 | 119,923 | -10,086 | -0.80% |
| 1960 | 130,009 | -1,032 | -0.08% |
| 1950 | 131,041 | 2,878 | 0.22% |
| 1940 | 128,163 | 8,365 | 0.68% |
| 1930 | 119,798 | 61,903 | 7.54% |
| 1920 | 57,895 | 13,291 | 2.64% |
| 1910 | 44,604 | 14,450 | 3.99% |
| 1900 | 30,154 | 1,054 | 0.36% |
| 1890 | 29,100 | 16,208 | 8.48% |
| 1880 | 12,892 | 6,799 | 7.78% |
| 1870 | 6,093 | 0.00% |
| Year | Total Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
| 2018 | 560,793 | 4,712 | 0.84% |
| 2017 | 556,081 | 4,159 | 0.75% |
| 2016 | 551,922 | 4,627 | 0.84% |
| 2015 | 547,295 | 3,179 | 0.58% |
| 2014 | 544,116 | 1,914 | 0.35% |
| 2013 | 542,202 | 4,059 | 0.75% |
| 2012 | 538,143 | 4,542 | 0.84% |
| 2011 | 533,601 | 4,447 | 0.83% |
| 2010 | 529,154 | 0.00% |
| Race | Population | Percentage |
| White | 107,586 | 61.03% |
| Black or African American | 58,790 | 33.35% |
| Asian | 4,234 | 2.40% |
| Two or More Races | 3,705 | 2.10% |
| Some Other Race | 1,602 | 0.91% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 254 | 0.14% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 120 | 0.07% |
| Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
| All | 71,190 | 2.35 | 52.6 |
| Non Family | 33,216 | 1.24 | 41.7 |
| Married | 25,001 | 3.14 | 74.2 |
| Female | 10,420 | 3.73 | 37.1 |
| Male | 2,553 | 3.57 | 46.5 |
| Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
| Less Than 9th Grade | 5,427 | 4.49% |
| 9th to 12th Grade | 10,945 | 9.05% |
| High School Graduate | 33,758 | 27.90% |
| Some College | 26,622 | 22.00% |
| Associates Degree | 9,509 | 7.86% |
| Bachelors Degree | 22,851 | 18.89% |
| Graduate Degree | 11,888 | 9.82% |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among native american people with a rate of 100.00%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among asian people with a rate of 47.87%.
$31,801
Average Earnings
$35,706
Average Male
$28,962
Average Female
92.61% of Chattanooga residents speak only English, while 7.39% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 4.04% of the population.
| Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
| Black | 57,127 | 17,636 | 30.87% |
| White | 94,319 | 12,280 | 13.02% |
| Hispanic | 9,550 | 3,482 | 36.46% |
| Multiple | 3,603 | 1,105 | 30.67% |
| Other | 1,580 | 443 | 28.04% |
| Asian | 4,190 | 374 | 8.93% |
| Native | 254 | 44 | 17.32% |
20.68%
Overall Poverty Rate
18.99%
Male Poverty Rate
22.17%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Chattanooga is Hispanic, with 36.46% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Chattanooga is Asian, with 8.93% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 3.85%. Among those working part-time, it was 25.20%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 29.05%.
37.9%
Overall Marriage Rate
41.1%
Male Marriage Rate
35.1%
Female Marriage Rate
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 35-44.
| Name | Veterans | % of Total |
| White | 7,597 | 8.53% |
| Black | 2,804 | 6.29% |
| 2 or More | 112 | 6.65% |
| Hispanic | 76 | 1.29% |
| Hawaiian | 37 | 30.83% |
| Indian | 30 | 14.85% |
| Other | 23 | 2.02% |
| Asian | 14 | 0.42% |
9.08%
Veteran Poverty Rate
31.98%
Veteran Disability Rate
61%
Labor Force Participation
56.4%
Employment Rate
7.4%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
94.14%
Native Born
5.86%
Foreign Born
3.93%
Non Citizen
94.14% of Chattanooga residents were born in the United States, with 61.87% having been born in Tennessee. 3.93% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.