Families across Tennessee continue to face the difficult realities of poverty. Rising costs of housing, food, and healthcare, combined with job losses and long-standing systemic issues, leave thousands struggling to cover even their most basic needs. These challenges are especially pronounced in rural communities, where limited access to services and economic opportunities deepens hardship.
This resource explores what the Tennessee poverty level means today, why poverty persists across the state, and how we at Americans Helping Americans® partner with local groups to provide both immediate relief and long-term solutions.
What is the Poverty Level in Tennessee?
The poverty level in Tennessee is tied to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The FPL is an income guideline updated each year by the federal government. It is used to determine eligibility for essential programs such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and housing assistance.
According to the 2025 Tennessee FPL Guide, the poverty threshold varies by household size. For example:
- A single individual is considered at or below the poverty level with an annual income just over $21,000
- A family of four qualifies if household income is under $44,000
- Larger households qualify at higher amounts, with the threshold set at about $75,000 for a family of eight
These numbers show that many working families in Tennessee still fall under the poverty line despite steady employment. With rising costs for housing, food, and healthcare, meeting the Tennessee poverty level often means living on an income that does not cover basic needs.
What the Numbers Say About Poverty in Tennessee
To understand the Tennessee poverty level, it helps to look at the most recent data. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey provides a snapshot of how poverty affects families across the state. These numbers highlight the realities Tennesseans face and how systemic disparities in income, education, housing, and health create barriers to stability.
Poverty Rate
Tennessee’s overall poverty rate is 14%, compared to 12.5% nationally. Poverty affects 19.7% of children under 18, nearly one in five. Adults ages 18-64 experience a 12.5% poverty rate, and seniors 65+ are at 12.2%.
These figures show how deeply poverty touches children, who are the most vulnerable to its long-term effects. Without intervention, childhood poverty reinforces cycles of disadvantage that follow into adulthood.
Income and Earnings
The median household income in Tennessee is $67,631, falling well below the U.S. median of $77,719.
This gap illustrates why so many Tennessee families struggle to keep pace with rising costs. Even households above the official poverty line often live paycheck to paycheck, leaving them at risk when unexpected expenses or job losses occur.
Education Levels
Educational attainment in Tennessee lags behind national averages. Among adults statewide:
- 31% have a high school diploma or equivalent
- 19.4% have some college, no degree
- 8% hold an associate’s degree
- 19.3% hold a bachelor’s degree
- 12.4% have a graduate or professional degree
- In total, 31.7% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 36.2% nationally
Education gaps limit access to higher-paying jobs and long-term career growth. This reinforces generational poverty and underscores why investment in education and training is vital to lifting families out of poverty.
Rent Burden and Housing Costs
Tennessee’s median gross rent is $1,214, lower than the national median of $1,406. But rent still represents a heavy burden for many households:
- 32% pay between $1,000–$1,499
- 19.5% pay between $1,500–$1,999
- 27.9% pay between $500–$999
Lower rents do not always mean affordability. Many low-income households in Tennessee spend a disproportionate share of their earnings on housing, leaving little left for food, healthcare, or savings. These realities point to the importance of programs like our Home Repair initiative, which helps families stabilize housing costs and improve living conditions.
Disability and Accessibility
About 14.5% of Tennesseans live with a disability, slightly higher than the U.S. average of 13.6%. Specific challenges include:
- 7.5% with ambulatory difficulty
- 6% with cognitive difficulty
- 6.4% with independent living difficulty
- 4.1% with hearing issues
- 2.8% with vision issues
- 2.7% with self-care difficulty
Disabilities intersect closely with poverty, often reducing employment options and increasing household expenses. For seniors and those in rural areas where services are limited, these barriers can be especially severe.
Health Insurance Coverage
The uninsured rate in Tennessee is 9.3%, compared to 7.9% nationally.
Nearly one in ten Tennesseans lives without health insurance, limiting access to preventive care and raising the risk of financial hardship from medical bills. In rural communities, where hospitals and providers are already scarce, the lack of coverage compounds poverty and health disparities.
Why Poverty in Tennessee Is So Complex
Poverty in Tennessee cannot be explained by a single cause. Instead, it is shaped by overlapping, systemic issues that reinforce one another. The University of Tennessee System (2023) identifies these barriers as Grand Challenges: interconnected problems that affect families across generations and limit opportunities for entire communities.
Cycles That Begin With Lack of Opportunity
For many families, economic hardship begins early. Limited job opportunities and low wages create instability that impacts a child’s entire development. When parents struggle to pay for housing, food, and utilities, children often face stress, poor nutrition, and fewer learning resources at home.
These disadvantages carry into the classroom. Students who begin school without the same readiness as their peers often fall behind, making it harder to graduate or pursue higher education. Over time, this lack of opportunity locks families into a cycle where poverty in childhood increases the likelihood of poverty in adulthood.
Rural Community Decline
Tennessee’s rural counties have been hit hard by the decline of once-dominant industries like coal and tobacco. When these sectors collapsed, there was little investment to replace them with new industries, leaving many communities without a stable economic base.
The result has been widespread business closures, job loss, and the outmigration of young talent. Infrastructure has also deteriorated, from aging roads and water systems to limited broadband access, making it even harder to attract new businesses or support residents.
Not surprisingly, the counties most affected by rural decline are often those with the highest poverty rates. This shows that rural decline is not separate from poverty in Tennessee; it is one of its root causes.
Education Gaps
Education is one of the strongest predictors of long-term income and opportunity, but Tennessee lags behind national averages in educational attainment. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 31.7% of adults in Tennessee hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 36.2% nationally.
The University of Tennessee highlights that overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, and limited exposure to diverse career paths hold students back, particularly in rural areas. Without mentors, role models, or strong school resources, many students never see pathways to higher education or skilled careers.
These gaps reinforce generational poverty. Families without access to higher education often remain in low-wage work, making it harder for the next generation to achieve upward mobility.
Where Poverty Hits Hardest in Tennessee
Poverty does not affect every community in Tennessee the same way. Some counties face extreme poverty rates, while larger urban areas may have lower percentages but far higher total numbers of people living in poverty. HDPulse data (2019–2023) highlights the counties where poverty is most concentrated:
- Lake County: 32.3% poverty rate, 1,453 people
- Hancock County: 31.5% poverty rate, 2,078 people
- Pickett County: 25.8% poverty rate, 1,292 people
- Bledsoe County: 25.0% poverty rate, 3,427 people
- Scott County: 24.9% poverty rate, 5,338 people
While these counties have relatively small populations, the poverty rates are among the highest in the state. By contrast, Shelby County (Memphis) and Davidson County (Nashville) report lower rates, but because of their size, they have some of the highest total numbers of Tennesseans living below the poverty line.
We are directly engaged in communities where these challenges are most severe. In Cocke County, 20.3% of residents (7,275 people) live in poverty. In Hamblen County, 17.2% of the population (10,970 people) are affected. In Hawkins County 17.1% of residents are impacted (9,725 people) and in Jefferson County, 11.5% of the population (6,229 people) live below the poverty line.
By working alongside local partners in counties like Hancock and Cocke, Americans Helping Americans® addresses poverty where it is most entrenched. These are the communities where programs such as food support, housing repair, and youth services can make the most immediate difference for families.
How Americans Helping Americans® Supports Tennessee Communities
At Americans Helping Americans®, we partner with local groups to fight poverty in Tennessee by meeting basic needs, supporting education, improving housing, and feeding families. Our programs are designed to bring relief today while building the foundation for lasting change in the communities we serve.
Basic Needs
For families struggling to get by, even the smallest necessities can make a big difference. Through our Basic Needs program, we provide coats and blankets to help families endure harsh Appalachian winters, shoes so children can learn and play without pain, and food boxes to supplement the diets of more than 10,000 families each year. We also distribute dental and hygiene kits to support health and dignity.
Our assistance extends to utility bill support through local partners. For families living paycheck to paycheck, a missed payment can mean eviction or a shutoff that puts lives at risk, especially for those who rely on medical equipment like oxygen machines. By addressing these urgent needs, we help stabilize households and prevent crises from spiraling into homelessness.
Education and Vocational Training
We believe education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty. That’s why we deliver thousands of school supply kits annually, fund after-school and summer programs, and support vocational training opportunities for young adults. Our initiatives also bridge the digital divide by providing laptops and internet access to students who otherwise lack them.
A powerful example is Transforming Hearts and Minds in Rural Tennessee, where Bean Station Elementary received a $4,000 Helping Teacher grant. With this support, school counselor Tammy Spoon launched “Healthy Minds, Happy Kids,” creating emotional support spaces, mindfulness programs, and trauma-informed learning tools. In a community where 80% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, these resources have transformed classrooms into spaces of healing and hope.
Food Support
Food insecurity remains one of the greatest challenges for families in Appalachia. Our Food Support program strengthens local food banks, delivers meals to children in the summer when schools are closed, and ensures that families in isolated areas receive food boxes stocked with healthy, perishable items. We also provide funding for holiday meals, giving families the chance to gather and celebrate with dignity.
These efforts bring stability to households that would otherwise struggle to afford balanced meals. From children relying on our summer lunches to seniors receiving food boxes, this program is a lifeline for communities across Tennessee.
Housing Repair
Safe, stable housing is essential for health and security. Through our Home Repairs Program, we provide grants for materials and coordinate with partners like Appalachian Ministries of the Smokies (AMOS) in Jefferson City to repair homes for elderly and disabled residents. Volunteers and church groups join in to replace roofs, build wheelchair ramps, and rehabilitate unsafe structures.
As highlighted in Home Repairs for Needy Families in Eastern Tennessee, these repairs have a profound impact. For Billie, a 61-year-old living alone, volunteers replaced a leaking roof and rebuilt her unstable porch and ramp. For Carolyn, a 70-year-old whose home suffered fire damage, the team repaired her closet and rebuilt a safe front deck. Without these interventions, both women would have faced the risk of institutional care or homelessness.
By repairing homes and restoring dignity, this program ensures families can remain in their communities, aging in place with safety and security.
Donations for Tennessee
The challenges facing families across the state are real, but together, we can create lasting change. By supporting AHA, you become part of the solution to poverty in Tennessee: providing food, education, housing repairs, and basic needs where they are needed most.
Here are a few ways you can help today:
- Donate to support families in Tennessee with immediate relief and long-term solutions
- Become a monthly giver to sustain impact year-round and provide steady support to local partners
- Join our email list to hear stories of resilience and receive updates on how your support is making a difference
- Share a link to this resource with others who care about strengthening rural communities and uplifting families
Every action, no matter how small, helps build stronger communities and brighter futures across Tennessee.
