Town · Hardeman County, Tennessee

Whiteville, Tennessee

Whiteville is a town in Hardeman County, Tennessee. It has 4,530 residents. Whiteville, Tennessee has a quality-of-life score of 2 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,299 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Tennessee it ranks #300 of 305 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), public libraries (high) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on bachelor's degree or higher (low), firearm deaths (high) and access to exercise opportunities (low).

2Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,299 of 15,651 cities and towns
Tennessee: #300 of 305 in TN
Population: 4,530 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,718.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 4780540

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.

Safety3#15,119/15,637
Economy2#15,385/15,631
Housing56#6,547/14,977
Health3#15,155/15,609
Healthcare17#13,011/15,650
Environment46#8,340/15,453
Education5#14,894/15,649
Infrastructure6#14,702/15,650
Community14#13,505/15,651
Leisure & amenities4#14,963/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Effective property tax rate · low0.48%
89/100Tennessee 0.52%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Public libraries · high1.6 /10k
87/100Tennessee 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHardeman County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Tennessee 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardeman County value
Preventable hospital stays · low2,206 /100k
79/100Tennessee 2,914 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardeman County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low134 min
78/100Tennessee 168 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHardeman County value
Social associations · high12.1 /10k
77/100Tennessee 11.0 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardeman County value

Weaknesses

Bachelor's degree or higher · low2.7%
1/100Tennessee 31.1%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Firearm deaths · high39.1 /100k
1/100Tennessee 18.9 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHardeman County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low16.3%
1/100Tennessee 67.9%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardeman County value
Adult smoking · high25.9%
1/100Tennessee 21.0%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Voter turnout · low46.4%
2/100Tennessee 58.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionHardeman County value
Math scores · low2.37
2/100Tennessee 2.99United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardeman County value

Trends

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

Rent as share of incomeWorsening
19.0% (2015-2019) → 44.6% (2020-2024)
+26 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
39.4% (2015-2019) → 63.5% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
33.7% (2015-2019) → 52.7% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
69.2% (2015-2019) → 81.6% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.9× (2015-2019) → 3.0× (2020-2024)
+56%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Unemployment rateWorsening
5.6% (2015-2019) → 15.1% (2020-2024)
+9.6 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, Whiteville, Tennessee improved on 0 of 9 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Whiteville, Tennessee between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	3.4%2015-2019	2.7%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Broadband subscriptions	69.2%2015-2019	81.6%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Child poverty rate	33.7%2015-2019	52.7%2020-2024	+19 points	Within the margin of error	5%
High school diploma or higher	68.5%2015-2019	71.1%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	20%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4262015-2019	0.4292020-2024	+0.003	Within the margin of error	47%
Median household income	$36,0942015-2019	$42,1052020-2024	+17%	Within the margin of error	26%
Poverty rate	23.1%2015-2019	28.4%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“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 Whiteville, Tennessee five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Whiteville, 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, Whiteville, Tennessee itself moved −6 points in standing on average over the same 6 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

4,530 residents (±21)

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: 10–19 men (−2.9 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

4,530 residents (±21)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

White43%1,948
Black47%2,117
Hispanic or Latino4.0%†180

Education

4,000 residents (±204)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

No high school diploma29%1,155
High school or GED49%†1,969
Some college16%†652

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

472 households (±192)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $25k34%†162
$25k–50k30%†141
$50k–75k13%†59
$75k–100k8.9%†42
$100k–150k13%†60
$150k–200k0.0%0
$200k or more1.7%†8

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

† 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

472 households (±192)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Own43%†203
Rent57%†269

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Rent (+14.4 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 B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

197 households (±90)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $75022%†44
$750–1,00053%†104
$1,000–1,50020%†

Home values

203 homes (±103)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under $150k66%†133
$150k–250k23%†47
$250k–400k11%†23

Age of homes

505 homes (±195)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

2010 or later11%†57
2000–20093.2%†16
1980–199928%†143

Size of homes

505 homes (±195)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom2.6%†13
2 bedrooms34%†174

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

370 workers (±178)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Drive alone91%†337
Carpool5.9%†22
Public transit0.0%0
Walk1.6%†6
Bike0.0%0
Work from home0.0%0
Other1.4%†5

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

† 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

370 workers (±178)

Whiteville, Tennessee
Tennessee share

Under 15 min22%†82
15–29 min36%†134
30–44 min13%†49

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

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 Hardeman County, the county holding most of Whiteville's residents.

Hardeman County has 314 employer establishments, 123 for every 10,000 residents (0.49× the US rate of 248; 0.59× Tennessee's), with 4,404 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,800. The Census Bureau also counts 2,159 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 314; 2,159 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 123; US 248 · Tennessee 210
Paid employees: 4,404
Average annual pay: $52,800; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	31	12.1	2.19×More than typical	120	$15,450	—
Ambulatory health care services	28	11	0.53×Fewer than typical	230	$46,257	63
Restaurants and other eating places	19	7.4	0.40×Fewer than typical	274	$18,226	15
General merchandise stores	16	6.3	3.54×More than typical	265	$28,521	4
Truck transportation	11	4.3	0.85×About typical	70	$64,729	80
Banks and credit unions	10	3.9	1.21×About typical	78	$50,808	—
Limited-service restaurants	10	3.9	0.49×Fewer than typical	196	$16,383	3
Specialty trade contractors	10	3.9	0.25×Fewer than typical	53	$31,925	157
Automotive repair and maintenance	9	3.5	0.70×Too few to compare	56	$33,054	79
Gasoline stations	9	3.5	1.09×Too few to compare	22	$31,545	7
Grocery and convenience stores	9	3.5	1.19×Too few to compare	115	$20,574	3
Insurance agencies and brokerages	8	3.1	0.71×Too few to compare	20	$44,600	22

Rank places for an industry Open Hardeman County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,555 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Whiteville, Tennessee: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
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

Spending by fiscal year

6.1KFY2021
1.1KFY2022
-17.8FY2023

What was bought

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

Whiteville, Tennessee's figures are part of those of Hardeman County, TN ($31.6M 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: Whiteville is mostly in Hardeman County.

See federal money in Hardeman 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.

Whiteville, 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.

Hardeman County3100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Hardeman 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/4780540