City · Monroe County, Tennessee

Sweetwater, Tennessee

Sweetwater is a city in Monroe County, Tennessee, part of the Athens, TN metro area. It has 6,532 residents. Sweetwater, Tennessee has a quality-of-life score of 11 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,918 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Tennessee it ranks #259 of 305 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), child care cost burden (low) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on depression (high), hospital quality rating (low) and frequent mental distress (high).

11Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,918 of 15,651 cities and towns
Tennessee: #259 of 305 in TN
Population: 6,532 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 727.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 4772540

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.

Safety12#13,768/15,637
Economy21#12,301/15,631
Housing45#8,220/14,977
Health1#15,443/15,609
Healthcare8#14,448/15,650
Environment82#2,804/15,453
Education13#13,606/15,649
Infrastructure24#11,821/15,650
Community18#12,869/15,651
Leisure & amenities31#10,854/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Pharmacies · high2.6 /10k
92/100Tennessee 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMonroe County value
Child care cost burden · low21.3%
91/100Tennessee 22.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonroe County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Tennessee 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonroe County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.58%
81/100Tennessee 0.52%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Average commute time · low20.0 min
79/100Tennessee 25.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
New homes permitted · high5.2 /1k
77/100Tennessee 5.7 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Weaknesses

Depression · high33.1%
1/100Tennessee 29.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100Tennessee 3.1United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMonroe County value
Frequent mental distress · high23.3%
2/100Tennessee 22.0%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Premature death · high15,219 /100k
4/100Tennessee 11,427 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonroe County value
Adult smoking · high23.4%
4/100Tennessee 21.0%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Injury deaths · high145 /100k
4/100Tennessee 122 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonroe County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
5,873 (2015-2019) → 6,532 (2020-2024)
+11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
28.3% (2015-2019) → 69.9% (2020-2024)
+42 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
71.6% (2015-2019) → 87.5% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
26.0% (2015-2019) → 10.6% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedImproving
3.5 /1k (2021) → 5.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+47%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
15.7% (2015-2019) → 7.7% (2020-2024)
−8 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Sweetwater, Tennessee improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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.

Improved3

Uninsured−8 points15.7% → 7.7%
Child poverty−15 points26.0% → 10.6%
Broadband+16 points71.6% → 87.5%

Declined2

Rent burden+42 points28.3% → 69.9%
Rent / income+7.7 points25.0% → 32.7%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Sweetwater, Tennessee between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.6 min2015-2019	20.0 min2020-2024	−1.7 min	Within the margin of error	67%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.7%2015-2019	18.7%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Broadband subscriptions	71.6%2015-2019	87.5%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	82%
Child poverty rate	26.0%2015-2019	10.6%2020-2024	−15 points	Improved	90%
Effective property tax rate	0.62%2015-2019	0.58%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	23%
High school diploma or higher	82.5%2015-2019	85.9%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	3.9×2020-2024	+0.9×	Within the margin of error	26%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4112015-2019	0.4342020-2024	+0.024	Within the margin of error	31%
Median household income	$40,1582015-2019	$45,4512020-2024	+13%	Within the margin of error	21%
Poverty rate	17.5%2015-2019	14.6%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	25.0%2015-2019	32.7%2020-2024	+7.7 points	Declined	13%
Rent-burdened households	28.3%2015-2019	69.9%2020-2024	+42 points	Declined	1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.7%2015-2019	7.7%2020-2024	−8 points	Improved	94%

“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 Sweetwater, Tennessee five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sweetwater, 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, Sweetwater, Tennessee itself moved −13.9 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

6,532 residents (±21)

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

2,902 households (±304)

Sweetwater, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $25k30%†882
$25k–50k24%†709
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,902 households (±304)

Sweetwater, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Own55%1,598
Rent45%1,304

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

2,667 workers (±330)

Sweetwater, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Drive alone79%2,120
Carpool12%†318
Public transit0.0%0

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 Athens, 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 Monroe County, the county holding most of Sweetwater's residents.

Monroe County has 773 employer establishments, 159 for every 10,000 residents (0.64× the US rate of 248; 0.76× Tennessee's), with 13,318 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,001. The Census Bureau also counts 3,333 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 773; 3,333 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 159; US 248 · Tennessee 210
Paid employees: 13,318
Average annual pay: $46,001; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	75	15.4	0.84×About typical	1,378	$17,153	15
Ambulatory health care services	57	11.7	0.56×Fewer than typical	576	$53,569	100
Religious organizations	45	9.3	1.67×More than typical	201	$18,642	—
Limited-service restaurants	36	7.4	0.92×About typical	817	$15,831	8
Specialty trade contractors	35	7.2	0.47×Fewer than typical	185	$47,459	371
Full-service restaurants	30	6.2	0.80×About typical	506	$19,411	—
Gasoline stations	29	6	1.84×More than typical	139	$27,957	—
Lessors of real estate	25	5.1	0.42×Fewer than typical	53	$28,755	236
Banks and credit unions	21	4.3	1.34×More than typical	201	$51,204	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	20	4.1	0.82×About typical	69	$42,826	101
Grocery and convenience stores	20	4.1	1.39×More than typical	506	$18,140	11
Offices of other health practitioners	16	3.3	0.54×Fewer than typical	76	$61,592	33

Rank places for an industry Open Monroe County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 48,601 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 $16.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Sweetwater, Tennessee: $2.46 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $16.1K; −90% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.46; US $1,995
Sole-source: 100%; 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

Department of Veterans Affairs$16.1K100%

Top recipients

WATERS OF SWEETWATER, A REHABILITATION & NURSING CENTER, LLC$16.1K100%

Spending by fiscal year

45.7KFY2017
146.2KFY2018
114.8KFY2019
83.3KFY2020
77KFY2021
74.8KFY2022
99.6KFY2023
174KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$16.1K100%

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

Sweetwater, Tennessee's figures are part of those of Monroe County, TN and McMinn County, TN ($39.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Monroe 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.

Sweetwater, 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.

Monroe County16100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Athens, TN16

Other cities and towns in Monroe 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/4772540

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends