Rank

1951of 3,144

Hamilton, Tennessee

Score 6.05 / 10· population 379,864

Hamilton County is Chattanooga's county, on a bend of the Tennessee River; BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and Volkswagen are two of its largest employers, and government held 10.3% of jobs in 2024. In August 2025, 6.42 inches of rain fell in a day, Chattanooga's second-wettest since records began in 1879, and creeks overran streets and low-lying neighborhoods. Homicide killed 245 residents from 2016 through 2022, averaging 9.5 per 100,000 a year next to 6.5 for the nation.

Sources
  • Chattanooga lies on a bend in the Tennessee River near a natural opening in the southern Appalachians tennesseeencyclopedia.net
  • Chattanooga is the largest city or town in Hamilton County, TN chattanoogachamber.com
  • Hamilton County's major employers as of 12/31/25 include BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the largest, with 6,303 full-time employees, and Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga with 3,937 chattanoogachamber.com
  • Government was 10.3% of Hamilton County employment in 2024 (BLS data in the Chattanooga Area Chamber county profile) chattanoogachamber.com
  • In the August 12-13, 2025 storms the National Weather Service recorded 6.42 inches of rain, the second-wettest single day in Chattanooga's recorded history, which dates back to 1879 yahoo.com
  • In the August 2025 storms, local creeks and tributaries quickly overwhelmed banks, streets and low-lying neighborhoods yahoo.com
  • 2025 County Health Rankings, data years 2016-2022: Hamilton County homicide rate 9.5 per 100,000 countyhealthrankings.org
  • 2025 County Health Rankings analytic data (homicide data years 2016-2022): Hamilton County 245 homicide deaths, 9.5 per 100,000; United States 6.5 per 100,000 countyhealthrankings.org

v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values

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Eleven factors

Government behavior

  1. Fraser Institute state ranking (state)8.3
  2. 2A (state)10.0
  3. GOP + LP vote for President5.6
  4. Sales tax1.6
  5. Property tax6.9

Environment

  1. Air quality5.2
  2. Floods / hurricanes0.5

Private behavior

  1. Homicide rate5.4
  2. Life expectancy5.8
  3. Government employees9.5
  4. Single-parent households2.5

Neighbors