Tennessee has 95 counties and the Think Tennessee State of our Counties Dashboard has metrics that show the rank of Shelby County in relation to its sister counties. The results indicate the structural challenges that exist in our community:
#51 – Employment growth – 14.6%, change in the count of jobs between 2010-2022
#78 – Cost of living – $71,660 – annual cost of living for two parent, two children family
#63 – Households receiving food stamps – 16.2%
#5 – Average wages and salaries – $67,922 – average annual wage of employees
#72 – Poverty – 18.6% – percentage of people living below poverty line
#17 – Wage Gap – 83.8% – Women’s median earnings as percentage of men’s
#95 – Bankruptcy rate – 656 per 100,000 – rate of nonbusiness bankruptcy filings
#3 – Debt to income ratio – 0.86 – amount of debt individuals owe relative to income
#85 – Debt in collections – 39.0% – share of people with debt in collections
#85 – Median credit score – 665 – median credit score, maximum is 850
#79 – Election day polling stations to voters ratio – 1 polling place to 593.01 voters
#58 – Incarceration rate – 1,541 per 100,000 – rate for residents 16 to 64
#75 – High school graduation rate – 83.1% – Students graduating in four years and summer
#84 – Firearm fatalities – 31 per 100,000 residents
#91 – Renter cost burdened – 54.2% – occupied units with rent is greater than 30% income
#81 – Home cost burdened – 39.2% – owner-occupied houses with costs more than 30%
#76 – Child care cost burden – 27% – child care for two children as % of household income
#94 – Injury crash rate – 13.25 per 1,000 – crash rate that result in injuries
#45 – Change in median rent – 23.4% – change from 2017 to 2022
#74 – Weekly minimum wage work hours needed to afford a 2-BR rental unit – 109.5
#14 – Average commute to work – 22.6 minutes – travel time to work
#8 – Household energy burden – 2.1% – % of annual income spent on energy
#68 – Women living in poverty
#68 – Seniors living in poverty
#51 – African American Households receiving food stamps
#78 – Cost of living
#25 – Median household income
#5 – Average wages and salaries
#91 – Income inequality
#85 – Debt in collections
#3 – Debt to income ratio
#93 – Auto and retail loan delinquency rate
#85 – Median credit score
#61 – Households with children receiving food stamps
#16 – Youth obesity
#71 – Disconnected youth
#92 – Children in single-parent households
#72 – Children receiving public assistance
#43 – Adult obesity
#5 – Adults who smoke
#34 – Fatal drug overdoses
#61 – Teen births
#86 – Age of housing stock
#58 – Incarceration rate
#95 – Crime rate
#84 – Firearm fatalities
#26 – Voter registration
#83 – Registered voter turnout
#1 – In-person early voting turnout
#1 – Nonprofit giving
#8 – Public school teacher salary
#75 – High school graduation rate
#1 – Residents commuting to work outside the county of residence
#84 – Road quality
#8 – Broadband access
#20 – Renewable energy production
#91 – Air pollution
#24 – Average annual energy cost
#8 – Household energy burden
#91 – Renter cost burdened
#76 – Child cost burden
#94 – Injury crash rate
All data compiled by Think Tennessee in its State of Our Counties report.
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