Athens, Tennessee demographics

Athens, TN demographics: median age 39.0; 23.2% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Athens city, Tennessee · Incorporated city · GEOID 4702320. The survey estimates a population of 14,471 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Athens is 39.0 years, with a 90% margin of error of 3.9 years. There are 5,874 households (±313). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	39.0 ±3.9	38.9 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 14,471
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Under 18	3,051 ±383	21.1% ±2.6 pp	22.2%	22.0%
18–34	3,684 ±416	25.5% ±2.9 pp	22.7%	22.8%
35–64	5,146 ±501	35.6% ±3.5 pp	38.0%	38.0%
65 and older	2,590 ±369	17.9% ±2.5 pp	17.1%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 14,471
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Male	7,123 ±354	49.2% ±2.4 pp	49.1%	49.5%
Female	7,348 ±350	50.8% ±2.4 pp	50.9%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 14,471
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
White alone	11,662 ±478	80.6% ±3.3 pp	72.4%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	955 ±194	6.6% ±1.3 pp	15.6%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	5 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.9%
Asian alone	176 ±80	1.2% ±0.6 pp	1.9%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	0 ±22 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.2%
Some other race alone	400 ±215 · low precision	2.8% ±1.5 pp · low precision	2.7%	7.1%
Two or more races	1,273 ±415	8.8% ±2.9 pp	7.0%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 14,471
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	13,363 ±339	92.3% ±2.3 pp	92.6%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	1,108 ±346	7.7% ±2.4 pp	7.4%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 5,874
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Married-couple family	2,080 ±256	35.4% ±3.9 pp	46.8%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	394 ±171	6.7% ±2.9 pp	4.8%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	1,097 ±205	18.7% ±3.3 pp	12.6%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	1,999 ±318	34.0% ±5.1 pp	29.5%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	304 ±128	5.2% ±2.2 pp	6.3%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 5,874
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Households with people under 18	1,934 ±231	32.9% ±3.5 pp	29.3%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	3,940 ±388	67.1% ±5.6 pp	70.7%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 5,874
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	1,999 ±318	34.0% ±5.1 pp	29.5%	28.7%
Two-person households	1,961 ±312	33.4% ±5.0 pp	35.2%	33.8%
Three-person households	754 ±148	12.8% ±2.4 pp	15.4%	15.3%
Four-person households	515 ±150	8.8% ±2.5 pp	11.7%	12.6%
Five-person households	387 ±171	6.6% ±2.9 pp	5.2%	5.9%
Six-person households	99 ±90 · low precision	1.7% ±1.5 pp · low precision	1.9%	2.2%
Seven or more people	159 ±109 · low precision	2.7% ±1.9 pp · low precision	1.2%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 14,471
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Native	13,887 ±217	96.0% ±1.5 pp	93.9%	85.9%
Foreign born	584 ±226	4.0% ±1.6 pp	6.1%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 13,626
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
English only	12,679 ±350	93.1% ±2.3 pp	91.4%	77.7%
Spanish	605 ±306 · low precision	4.4% ±2.2 pp · low precision	5.2%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	5 ±13 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	160 ±145 · low precision	1.2% ±1.1 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	9 ±15 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	85 ±78 · low precision	0.6% ±0.6 pp · low precision	0.7%	2.0%
Korean	0 ±22 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	0 ±22 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.2%	1.1%
Vietnamese	0 ±22 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	14 ±24 · low precision	0.1% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	49 ±60 · low precision	0.4% ±0.4 pp · low precision	0.5%	1.1%
Arabic	7 ±13 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	13 ±31 · low precision	0.1% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 9,711
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	1,194 ±316	12.3% ±3.2 pp	10.0%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	3,663 ±472	37.7% ±4.7 pp	31.2%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	2,049 ±337	21.1% ±3.4 pp	19.9%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	550 ±162	5.7% ±1.7 pp	7.9%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	1,417 ±341	14.6% ±3.5 pp	19.4%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	838 ±218	8.6% ±2.2 pp	11.7%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 14,191
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Tennessee	U.S.
Same house	11,991 ±484	84.5% ±3.3 pp	87.1%	87.7%
Moved within same county	1,202 ±443	8.5% ±3.1 pp	6.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	701 ±204	4.9% ±1.4 pp	3.1%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	263 ±149 · low precision	1.9% ±1.0 pp · low precision	3.0%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	34 ±40 · low precision	0.2% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

8.5% of Athens residents (±2.0 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 10.0% in Tennessee and 8.4% nationally. 92.1% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Athens	Tennessee	U.S.	Compared with Tennessee
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	8.5% ±2.0 pp	10.0%	8.4%	Not statistically different
Households with a broadband subscription Households	92.1% ±3.1 pp	89.2%	91.0%	Not statistically different
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	6.0% ±1.6 pp	7.3%	6.2%	Not statistically different

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Athens . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Athens housing and cost context or return to the city profile.