Town · Smith County, Tennessee

Carthage, Tennessee

Carthage is a town in Smith County, Tennessee, part of the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area. It has 2,327 residents. Carthage, Tennessee has a quality-of-life score of 25 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,684 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Tennessee it ranks #129 of 305 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), time spent in the emergency room (low) and unemployment rate (low). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), depression (high) and preventable hospital stays (high).

25Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,684 of 15,651 cities and towns
Tennessee: #129 of 305 in TN
Population: 2,327 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 801.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 4711280

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety40#9,415/15,637
Economy63#5,807/15,631
Housing79#3,085/14,977
Health12#13,796/15,609
Healthcare10#14,040/15,650
Environment55#6,895/15,453
Education59#6,473/15,649
Infrastructure18#12,824/15,650
Community12#13,802/15,651
Leisure & amenities2#15,297/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Carthage, Tennessee ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Smith County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Child care cost burden · low17.4%
99/100Tennessee 22.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSmith County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low94 min
98/100Tennessee 168 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSmith County value
Unemployment rate · low1.3%
90/100Tennessee 3.5%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Property crime rate · low516 /100k
89/100Tennessee 1,637 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSmith County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Tennessee 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSmith County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.54%
84/100Tennessee 0.52%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low34 /100k
3/100Tennessee 212 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSmith County value
Depression · high30.6%
3/100Tennessee 29.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Preventable hospital stays · high4,619 /100k
3/100Tennessee 2,914 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSmith County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low34.1%
3/100Tennessee 67.9%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSmith County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high164 mi
4/100Tennessee 93 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSmith County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Tennessee 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSmith County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
2,466 (2015-2019) → 2,327 (2020-2024)
−5.6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
25.0% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$39,693 (2015-2019) → $67,006 (2020-2024)
+69%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
High school diploma or higherImproving
78.2% (2015-2019) → 90.2% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
12.5% (2015-2019) → 22.3% (2020-2024)
+9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Poverty rateImproving
17.7% (2015-2019) → 8.3% (2020-2024)
−9.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Carthage, Tennessee improved on 4 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Child poverty−25 points25.0% → 0.0%
Household income+69%$39,693 → $67,006
Poverty−9.4 points17.7% → 8.3%
Bachelor's++9.8 points12.5% → 22.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Carthage, Tennessee between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.5 min2015-2019	24.8 min2020-2024	−1.7 min	Within the margin of error	68%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.5%2015-2019	22.3%2020-2024	+9.8 points	Improved	89%
Broadband subscriptions	75.4%2015-2019	82.8%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Child poverty rate	25.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	−25 points	Improved	96%
Effective property tax rate	0.60%2015-2019	0.54%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
High school diploma or higher	78.2%2015-2019	90.2%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	97%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+1.0×	Within the margin of error	21%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4032015-2019	0.4032020-2024	0.000	Within the margin of error	51%
Median household income	$39,6932015-2019	$67,0062020-2024	+69%	Improved	94%
Poverty rate	17.7%2015-2019	8.3%2020-2024	−9.4 points	Improved	92%
Rent as share of income	24.0%2015-2019	22.9%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Rent-burdened households	30.7%2015-2019	35.7%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.3%2015-2019	9.5%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	66%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Carthage, Tennessee five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Carthage, Tennessee in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Carthage, Tennessee itself moved +5.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,327 residents (±465)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

899 households (±146)

Carthage, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $25k22%†197
$25k–50k9.1%†82
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

899 households (±146)

Carthage, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Own63%565
Rent37%†334

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+10.8 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,201 workers (±235)

Carthage, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Drive alone85%1,016
Carpool4.6%†55
Public transit0.4%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Smith County, the county holding most of Carthage's residents.

Smith County has 307 employer establishments, 149 for every 10,000 residents (0.60× the US rate of 248; 0.71× Tennessee's), with 4,921 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,532. The Census Bureau also counts 1,684 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 307; 1,684 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 149; US 248 · Tennessee 210
Paid employees: 4,921
Average annual pay: $50,532; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Smith County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	24	11.7	0.75×Fewer than typical	202	$68,668	202
Restaurants and other eating places	22	10.7	0.58×Fewer than typical	430	$17,926	10
Ambulatory health care services	18	8.8	0.42×Fewer than typical	111	$40,072	49
Construction of buildings	16	7.8	1.03×About typical	59	$42,661	86
Religious organizations	13	6.3	1.14×About typical	56	$22,500	—
Truck transportation	11	5.4	1.06×About typical	116	$61,069	49
Limited-service restaurants	10	4.9	0.61×Fewer than typical	277	$16,386	4
Banks and credit unions	9	4.4	1.36×Too few to compare	70	$73,929	—
Full-service restaurants	9	4.4	0.57×Too few to compare	140	$20,771	—
Other specialty trade contractors	9	4.4	1.75×Too few to compare	49	$66,755	69
Building equipment contractors	8	3.9	0.65×Too few to compare	31	$60,355	40
Gasoline stations	8	3.9	1.20×Too few to compare	108	$29,602	—

Rank places for an industry Open Smith County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 20,538 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated -$29.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Carthage, Tennessee: -$12.71 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: -$29.6K; −109% vs FY2025
Per resident: -$12.71; US $1,995
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

SMITH COUNTY$1,6830.0%
GRAHAM SERVICES LLC$9690.0%
GROSS PAUL$7590.0%
BRANNON CONTRACTING & MAINTENANCE SERVICES, LLC$00.0%
KIM KELLY-$9.840.0%
ENVIROSMART, LLC-$3,1940.0%
HOWARD W. PENCE, INC.-$29.8K0.0%

Spending by fiscal year

44.2KFY2017
55.9KFY2018
57.7KFY2019
40.8KFY2020
158.2KFY2021
65.9KFY2022
169.1KFY2023
295.7K

Top industries (NAICS)

Investigation and security services · 5616$1,6830.0%
RV parks and recreational camps · 7212$7490.0%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Carthage, Tennessee, so they do not add up across cities.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Carthage is mostly in Smith County.

See federal money in Smith County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Carthage, Tennessee is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

John W. RoseR-TN-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 5.8%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Smith County25100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN57

Other cities and towns in Smith County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4711280

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends