State
County
Land Area
143.0 sq mi
Density
1,291.0/sq mi
2020 Growth Rate
0.48%
Growth Since 2010
10.07%
Rank in State
Rank in Country
Metro Population
573,918
Chattanooga is a city located in Tennessee. With a 2020 population of 184,561, it is the 4th largest city in Tennessee (after Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville) and the 139th largest city in the United States. Chattanooga is currently growing at a rate of 0.48% annually and its population has increased by 10.07% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 167,674 in 2010. Chattanooga reached it's highest population of 184,561 in 2021. Spanning over 151 miles, Chattanooga has a population density of 1,291 people per square mile.
The average household income in Chattanooga is $69,197 with a poverty rate of 17.64%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $859 per month, and the median house value is $167,500. The median age in Chattanooga is 37.5 years, 36.4 years for males, and 38.5 years for females. For every 100 females there are 88.1 males.
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.
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.
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.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Chattanooga was:
2019 and 2020 population is estimated by projecting the raw 2018 numbers.
Year | Total Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 573,918 | 4,362 | 0.76% |
2020 | 569,556 | 4,362 | 0.77% |
2019 | 565,194 | 4,362 | 0.77% |
2018 | 560,832 | 4,879 | 0.87% |
2017 | 555,953 | 4,094 | 0.74% |
2016 | 551,859 | 4,654 | 0.84% |
2015 | 547,205 | 3,022 | 0.55% |
2014 | 544,183 | 2,002 | 0.37% |
2013 | 542,181 | 4,078 | 0.75% |
2012 | 538,103 | 4,482 | 0.83% |
2011 | 533,621 | 4,490 | 0.84% |
2010 | 529,131 | 0.00% |
Race | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White | 111,939 | 62.30% |
Black or African American | 56,348 | 31.36% |
Asian | 4,805 | 2.67% |
Two or More Races | 4,265 | 2.37% |
Some Other Race | 1,985 | 1.10% |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 290 | 0.16% |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 58 | 0.03% |
Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
---|---|---|---|
All | 75,940 | 2.25 | 52.6 |
Non Family | 36,477 | 1.24 | 41.9 |
Married | 26,015 | 3.06 | 75 |
Female | 10,350 | 3.44 | 35.4 |
Male | 3,098 | 3.28 | 47 |
3.11
Average Family Size
2.25
Average Household Size
Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Less Than 9th Grade | 5,186 | 4.12% |
9th to 12th Grade | 10,581 | 8.41% |
High School Graduate | 34,795 | 27.66% |
Some College | 26,813 | 21.31% |
Associates Degree | 10,669 | 8.48% |
Bachelors Degree | 24,383 | 19.38% |
Graduate Degree | 13,375 | 10.63% |
Name | Total | High School | Bachelors |
---|---|---|---|
White | 77,428 | 71,520 | 29,913 |
Black | 37,664 | 31,184 | 4,832 |
Hispanic | 5,573 | 3,181 | 835 |
Asian | 3,440 | 2,677 | 1,674 |
Multiple Races | 1,603 | 1,396 | 569 |
Other Race | 932 | 530 | 119 |
Native American | 247 | 226 | 43 |
Islander | 46 | 46 | 35 |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among islander people with a rate of 100.00%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among islander people with a rate of 76.09%.
$35,514
Average Earnings
$40,050
Average Male
$31,454
Average Female
91.23% of Chattanooga residents speak only English, while 8.77% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 5.16% of the population.
Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|---|
Black | 54,667 | 14,940 | 27.33% |
White | 97,441 | 10,820 | 11.10% |
Hispanic | 11,095 | 3,218 | 29.00% |
Multiple | 4,060 | 913 | 22.49% |
Other | 1,937 | 670 | 34.59% |
Asian | 4,704 | 265 | 5.63% |
Native | 290 | 73 | 25.17% |
Islander | 58 | 44 | 75.86% |
17.64%
Overall Poverty Rate
16.44%
Male Poverty Rate
18.70%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Chattanooga is Islander, with 75.86% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Chattanooga is Asian, with 5.63% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 3.89%. Among those working part-time, it was 22.17%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 26.52%.
38.0%
Overall Marriage Rate
40.8%
Male Marriage Rate
35.5%
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 | 7,330 | 7.80% |
Black | 2,421 | 5.59% |
Hispanic | 148 | 2.17% |
2 or More | 108 | 5.12% |
Indian | 16 | 7.17% |
Asian | 10 | 0.26% |
Other | 4 | 0.34% |
10.77%
Veteran Poverty Rate
33.17%
Veteran Disability Rate
61.9%
Labor Force Participation
58.1%
Employment Rate
6.1%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
93.60%
Native Born
6.40%
Foreign Born
4.21%
Non Citizen
2.19%
Naturalized
93.60% of Chattanooga residents were born in the United States, with 60.37% having been born in Tennessee. 4.21% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.
Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 184,561 | 881 | 0.48% |
2020 | 183,680 | 881 | 0.48% |
2019 | 182,799 | 881 | 0.48% |
2018 | 181,918 | 2,388 | 1.33% |
2017 | 179,530 | 1,784 | 1.00% |
2016 | 177,746 | 1,346 | 0.76% |
2015 | 176,400 | 1,079 | 0.62% |
2014 | 175,321 | -4 | -0.00% |
2013 | 175,325 | 1,353 | 0.78% |
2012 | 173,972 | 1,631 | 0.95% |
2011 | 172,341 | 1,767 | 1.04% |
2010 | 170,574 | 15,020 | 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% |