City · Lauderdale County, Tennessee

Ripley, Tennessee

Ripley is a city in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. It has 7,658 residents. Ripley, Tennessee has a quality-of-life score of 0 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,622 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Tennessee it ranks #305 of 305 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), drinking water violations (low) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on adult obesity (high), voter turnout (low) and frequent mental distress (high).

0Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,622 of 15,651 cities and towns
Tennessee: #305 of 305 in TN
Population: 7,658 (2020-2024)
Land area: 13 mi²
Density: 572.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 4763340

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety6#14,739/15,637
Economy1#15,502/15,631
Housing36#9,539/14,977
Health2#15,314/15,609
Healthcare3#15,222/15,650
Environment18#12,677/15,453
Education11#13,886/15,649
Infrastructure10#14,080/15,650
Community6#14,750/15,651
Leisure & amenities4#14,994/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Time spent in the emergency room · low115 min
90/100Tennessee 168 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesLauderdale County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Tennessee 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLauderdale County value
Child care cost burden · low24.4%
77/100Tennessee 22.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLauderdale County value
Public transit commuters · high0.7%
70/100Tennessee 0.4%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
Public libraries · high0.8 /10k
70/100Tennessee 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLauderdale County value

Weaknesses

Adult obesity · high51.0%
0/100Tennessee 39.8%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Voter turnout · low43.3%
1/100Tennessee 58.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionLauderdale County value
Frequent mental distress · high23.9%
1/100Tennessee 22.0%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Mental health providers · low24 /100k
1/100Tennessee 212 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLauderdale County value
Restaurants and bars · low2.8 /10k
2/100Tennessee 7.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLauderdale County value
Poverty rate · high30.7%
2/100Tennessee 13.3%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

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

Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.6× (2015-2019) → 4.1× (2020-2024)
+60%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.7% (2015-2019) → 85.3% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
10.0% (2015-2019) → 16.3% (2020-2024)
+6.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
High school diploma or higherImproving
78.5% (2015-2019) → 83.7% (2020-2024)
+5.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Unemployment rateImproving
13.2% (2015-2019) → 8.2% (2020-2024)
−4.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
49.8% (2015-2019) → 54.4% (2020-2024)
+4.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Ripley, Tennessee improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 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.

Improved3

Unemployment−4.9 points13.2% → 8.2%
Bachelor's++6.3 points10.0% → 16.3%
Broadband+9.6 points75.7% → 85.3%

Declined1

Price / income+1.6×2.6× → 4.1×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Ripley, Tennessee between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.0 min2015-2019	23.2 min2020-2024	+1.2 min	Within the margin of error	34%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.0%2015-2019	16.3%2020-2024	+6.3 points	Improved	76%
Broadband subscriptions	75.7%2015-2019	85.3%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Improved	58%
Child poverty rate	38.0%2015-2019	41.2%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Effective property tax rate	0.88%2015-2019	0.87%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	18%
High school diploma or higher	78.5%2015-2019	83.7%2020-2024	+5.2 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	4.1×2020-2024	+1.6×	Declined	8%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4642015-2019	0.5192020-2024	+0.055	Within the margin of error	15%
Median household income	$33,5332015-2019	$37,4322020-2024	+12%	Within the margin of error	19%
Poverty rate	29.6%2015-2019	30.7%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Rent as share of income	29.9%2015-2019	32.1%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Rent-burdened households	49.8%2015-2019	54.4%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Unemployment rate	13.2%2015-2019	8.2%2020-2024	−4.9 points	Improved	96%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.0%2015-2019	15.0%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	14%

“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 Ripley, Tennessee five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Ripley, 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, Ripley, Tennessee itself moved −7.2 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

7,658 residents (±35)

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

2,818 households (±230)

Ripley, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $25k40%1,127
$25k–50k19%†541
$50k–75k13%†364

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,818 households (±230)

Ripley, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Own45%1,275
Rent55%1,543

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,594 workers (±279)

Ripley, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Drive alone78%2,022
Carpool15%†397
Public transit0.7%†19

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 Lauderdale County, the county holding most of Ripley's residents.

Lauderdale County has 296 employer establishments, 121 for every 10,000 residents (0.49× the US rate of 248; 0.58× Tennessee's), with 4,645 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,845. The Census Bureau also counts 1,702 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 296; 1,702 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 121; US 248 · Tennessee 210
Paid employees: 4,645
Average annual pay: $46,845; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	23	9.4	0.51×Fewer than typical	317	$14,319	18
Ambulatory health care services	22	9	0.43×Fewer than typical	159	$50,126	54
Religious organizations	21	8.6	1.54×More than typical	53	$14,340	—
Gasoline stations	20	8.2	2.52×More than typical	102	$21,167	—
Banks and credit unions	12	4.9	1.52×More than typical	118	$49,059	—
Truck transportation	12	4.9	0.97×About typical	330	$53,958	62
Full-service restaurants	10	4.1	0.53×Fewer than typical	81	$16,728	6
Lessors of real estate	10	4.1	0.33×Fewer than typical	27	$71,074	79
Specialty trade contractors	9	3.7	0.24×Too few to compare	90	$54,811	121
Limited-service restaurants	8	3.3	0.41×Too few to compare	219	$13,361	7
General merchandise stores	7	2.9	1.62×Too few to compare	207	$29,899	6
Offices of physicians	7	2.9	0.44×Too few to compare	62	$64,065	3

Rank places for an industry Open Lauderdale County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 24,504 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 $2,598 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Ripley, Tennessee: $0.34 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $2,598
Per resident: $0.34; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 10%; 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

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service$2,598100%

Top recipients

ARBORGEN INC$2,33390%
OMNI DISTRIBUTION, INC.$26610%

Spending by fiscal year

4.6KFY2017
5.3KFY2018
46.5KFY2019
2.9KFY2020
168.2FY2021
10.3KFY2022
7.8KFY2023
6.2KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production · 1114$2,33390%
Other chemical product and preparation manufacturing · 3259$26610%

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 Ripley, Tennessee, so they do not add up across cities.

Ripley, Tennessee's figures are part of those of Lauderdale County, TN ($52K in FY2026), never added to them: 5.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Lauderdale 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.

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

House

David KustoffR-TN-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.7%

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.

Lauderdale County1100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Lauderdale 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/4763340

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends