Scores by category

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

Safety38#9,708/15,637
Economy66#5,311/15,631
Housing62#5,718/14,977
Health9#14,225/15,609
Healthcare25#11,813/15,650
Environment81#2,927/15,453
Education39#9,573/15,649
Infrastructure37#9,887/15,650
Community33#10,432/15,651
Leisure & amenities3#15,105/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Kingston, Tennessee ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Roane 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

Job growth · high6.4%
99/100Tennessee -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataRoane County value
Child care cost burden · low19.0%
97/100Tennessee 22.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRoane County value
Median Air Quality Index · low29
94/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyRoane County value
Average weekly wage · high$1,701
93/100Tennessee $1,354United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRoane County value
Mammography screening · high54.0%
88/100Tennessee 46.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRoane County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyRoane County value

Weaknesses

Injury deaths · high177 /100k
1/100Tennessee 122 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRoane County value
Depression · high31.2%
3/100Tennessee 29.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Drug overdose deaths · high39.2 /100k
3/100Tennessee 27.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataRoane County value
Restaurants and bars · low3.8 /10k
4/100Tennessee 7.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRoane County value
Premature death · high13,627 /100k
7/100Tennessee 11,427 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRoane County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high113 mi
8/100Tennessee 93 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauRoane County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
5,927 (2015-2019) → 6,224 (2020-2024)
+5%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
38.2% (2015-2019) → 54.2% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
22.0% (2015-2019) → 34.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.9% (2015-2019) → 90.9% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$57,390 (2015-2019) → $71,675 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateWorsening
5.2% (2015-2019) → 8.1% (2020-2024)
+2.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Kingston, Tennessee improved on 0 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 13 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Kingston, Tennessee between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.8 min2015-2019	27.1 min2020-2024	+0.3 min	Within the margin of error	44%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.4%2015-2019	24.0%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Broadband subscriptions	79.9%2015-2019	90.9%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Effective property tax rate	0.90%2015-2019	0.67%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	63%
High school diploma or higher	90.3%2015-2019	92.3%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	71%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4542015-2019	0.4022020-2024	−0.052	Within the margin of error	85%
Median household income	$57,3902015-2019	$71,6752020-2024	+25%	Within the margin of error	44%
Poverty rate	8.9%2015-2019	7.1%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	22.0%2015-2019	34.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Rent-burdened households	38.2%2015-2019	54.2%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.3%2015-2019	9.4%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	24%

“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 Kingston, Tennessee five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Kingston, 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, Kingston, Tennessee itself moved −5.9 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

6,224 residents (±23)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under 10 women (+4.9 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

6,224 residents (±23)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

White91%5,634
Black3.7%†232
Hispanic or Latino1.5%†91

Education

4,462 residents (±263)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

No high school diploma7.7%†345
High school or GED40%1,788
Some college21%933

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

2,543 households (±229)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $25k18%†450
$25k–50k18%†459
$50k–75k16%†400
$75k–100k16%†416
$100k–150k23%†597
$150k–200k3.4%†86
$200k or more5.3%†135

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $100k–150k (+13.7 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,543 households (±229)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Own78%1,979
Rent22%564

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+13.8 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

528 households (±167)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $75054%†287
$750–1,00017%†90
$1,000–1,50020%†104

Home values

1,979 homes (±296)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $150k26%†509
$150k–250k33%655
$250k–400k21%424

Age of homes

2,697 homes (±229)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

2010 or later3.1%†83
2000–200916%†435
1980–199925%662

Size of homes

2,697 homes (±229)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Studio0.4%†11
1 bedroom5.5%†149
2 bedrooms23%†621

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,367 workers (±273)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Drive alone77%1,833
Carpool8.2%†194
Public transit0.0%0
Walk2.3%†54
Bike0.0%0
Work from home11%†263
Other1.0%†23

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Walk (+2.3 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

2,104 workers (±259)

Kingston, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under 15 min28%†599
15–29 min38%797
30–44 min21%†442

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Knoxville, 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 Roane County, the county holding most of Kingston's residents.

Roane County has 769 employer establishments, 137 for every 10,000 residents (0.55× the US rate of 248; 0.65× Tennessee's), with 8,996 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,195. The Census Bureau also counts 3,767 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 769; 3,767 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 137; US 248 · Tennessee 210
Paid employees: 8,996
Average annual pay: $41,195; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	69	12.3	0.59×Fewer than typical	818	$55,439	204
Religious organizations	56	10	1.80×More than typical	376	$17,758	—
Restaurants and other eating places	56	10	0.54×Fewer than typical	1,238	$17,544	14
Specialty trade contractors	51	9.1	0.59×Fewer than typical	170	$48,247	375
Services to buildings and dwellings	37	6.6	0.98×About typical	132	$22,045	359
Limited-service restaurants	32	5.7	0.71×Fewer than typical	774	$16,953	7
Gasoline stations	24	4.3	1.32×More than typical	175	$25,846	—
Building equipment contractors	23	4.1	0.68×Fewer than typical	89	$40,348	79
Construction of buildings	23	4.1	0.54×Fewer than typical	249	$88,554	208
Lessors of real estate	23	4.1	0.33×Fewer than typical	60	$39,650	290
Offices of other health practitioners	21	3.7	0.61×Fewer than typical	138	$31,116	62
Full-service restaurants	20	3.6	0.46×Fewer than typical	410	$19,620	7

Rank places for an industry Open Roane County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 56,218 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 $800.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Kingston, Tennessee: $129 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $800.2K; +978% vs FY2025
Per resident: $129; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Office of Procurement Operations$775.8K97%
National Institute of Standards and Technology$24.7K3.1%

Top recipients

GOLDEN SVCS, LLC$775.8K97%
BIONOMICS, INC.$24.7K3.1%
PERMA-FIX ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC.-$2790.0%

Spending by fiscal year

155KFY2017
292.4KFY2018
248.9KFY2019
584.8KFY2020
1MFY2021
1MFY2022
267KFY2023
365.2K

Top industries (NAICS)

Investigation and security services · 5616$775.8K97%
Waste treatment and disposal · 5622$24.4K3.0%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 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 Kingston, Tennessee, so they do not add up across cities.

Kingston, Tennessee's figures are part of those of Roane County, TN ($20.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.9% of that total.

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

See federal money in Roane 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.

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

House

Charles J. "Chuck" FleischmannR-TN-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 0.1%

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.

Roane County42100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Knoxville, TN52

Other cities and towns in Roane 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
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/4739620

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends