Sweetwater, McMinn County, Monroe County, Tennessee Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Sweetwater, Tennessee, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Sweetwater, Tennessee. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Sweetwater, Tennessee. The estimated population of Sweetwater, Tennessee is 6,228 people, with a median age of 43.4.

We can look at the total population in Sweetwater over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
6,228
+5.67%
+6.61%
2020
5,894
+0.36%
-
2019
5,873
+0.05%
-
2018
5,870
+0.48%
-
2017
5,842
- -

Population of Sweetwater, Tennessee by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
83.4%
84.4%
-1.18%
Black/African American
6.2%
7.8%
-20.51%
Native
0%
0%
0.00%
Hispanic
5.2%
4.5%
+15.56%
Asian
0%
1.9%
-100.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
0.00%
Two Or More Races
5.3%
1.3%
+307.69%
Other
0%
0%
0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Sweetwater, Tennessee by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 43.4 +7.69% 43.3 +9.34% 43.6 +6.6%
2020 40.3 -3.59% 39.6 -2.7% 40.9 -3.76%
2019 41.8 -3.02% 40.7 -5.57% 42.5 -1.16%
2018 43.1 -6.91% 43.1 -6.3% 43 -7.92%
2017 46.3 - 46 - 46.7 -

The median age of Sweetwater, Tennessee gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 282 +16.69% 373 0.55% 291 369
10 to 19 273 +54.55% 367 +18.96% 381 441
20 to 29 404 +10.34% 351 +12.79% 421 358
30 to 39 215 -10.55% 202 +106.21% 187 470
40 to 49 259 +55.07% 445 -41.2% 418 284
50 to 59 507 -33.53% 459 +21% 346 537
60 to 69 358 -19.47% 376 -2.45% 286 356
70+ 377 +17.62% 594 +18.19% 415 668

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Sweetwater, Tennessee is $37,721.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Sweetwater.

  • Under 25
    $69,271.00
  • 25 to 44
    $43,179.00
  • 45 to 64
    $29,602.00
  • 65 and over
    $26,122.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Sweetwater, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Sweetwater, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Sweetwater, Tennessee is currently $55,080.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

1.92% of households in Sweetwater are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Sweetwater against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    37.95%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    23.95%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    12.03%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    16.39%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    7.37%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    0.39%
  • $200,000 or more
    1.92%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Sweetwater is $22,302.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Sweetwater by the total population of Sweetwater.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Sweetwater, Tennessee, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Sweetwater to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    4.24%
  • Bachelor's degree
    17.93%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    12.37%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    64.03%
  • Less than high school diploma
    1.44%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Sweetwater that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Sweetwater over the age of 16 is 5,059.

Of those people, a total of 50.80% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Sweetwater is 46.30%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 313 28.80% 17.80%
20 to 24 years 315 97.50% 16.00%
25 to 29 years 464 62.90% 5.50%
30 to 34 years 279 95.00% 0.00%
35 to 44 years 764 80.60% 11.20%
45 to 54 years 690 74.80% 11.40%
55 to 59 years 509 42.00% 10.30%
60 to 64 years 351 44.70% 0.00%
65 to 74 years 915 7.90% 0.00%
75 years and over 459 9.20% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Sweetwater. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 4,288 50.60% 9.70%
Black or African American 345 53.30% 10.90%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0 0.00% 0.00%
Asian 0 0.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 219 91.80% 0.00%
Two or more races 207 7.70% 0.00%
Hispanic or Latino 258 81.80% 0.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 4,278 50.50% 9.80%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Sweetwater as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Sweetwater is 2,340, with median earnings of $29,964.00.

Women in Sweetwater, Tennessee earning approximately 69.30% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 2,340 $29,964.00
Male 1,201 $34,973.00
Female 1,139 $24,248.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 141 $29,795.00
Business and Financial 79 $36,914.00
Computer and Mathematical 0 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 29 $0.00
Legal 14 $0.00
Educational and Library 117 $38,811.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 0 $0.00
Healthcare Practitioners 175 $65,417.00
Healthcare Support 19 $0.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 16 $0.00
Law Enforcement 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 162 $15,758.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 183 $14,367.00
Personal Care and Service 0 $0.00
Sales 205 $28,578.00
Office and Administrative Support 350 $22,791.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 12 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 217 $30,195.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 94 $32,200.00
Production 262 $30,217.00
Transportation and Material Moving 106 $53,659.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 43 $59,375.00 98 $28,818.00
Business and Financial 48 $36,875.00 31 $0.00
Computer and Mathematical 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 0 $0.00 29 $0.00
Legal 14 $0.00 0 $0.00
Educational and Library 42 $43,036.00 75 $37,554.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Healthcare Practitioners 43 $0.00 132 $34,107.00
Healthcare Support 0 $0.00 19 $0.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 16 $0.00 0 $0.00
Law Enforcement 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 39 $4,716.00 123 $16,780.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 112 $14,276.00 71 $14,455.00
Personal Care and Service 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Sales 23 $0.00 182 $27,586.00
Office and Administrative Support 55 $35,905.00 295 $21,583.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 12 $0.00 0 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 217 $30,195.00 0 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 94 $32,200.00 0 $0.00
Production 228 $30,543.00 34 $12,361.00
Transportation and Material Moving 95 $53,994.00 11 $0.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 2,551 households in Sweetwater, with an average household size of 2.37 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 1,666 families in Sweetwater with an average family size of 2.91 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 1,048 110 508 885
Average Household Size 3.33 3.15 2.33 1.16
Total Families 1,048 110 508 0
Average Household Size 3.29 2.63 2.19 0

Poverty

Of the 1,666 families in Sweetwater, 18.00% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Sweetwater:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 2,806 housing units in Sweetwater, Tennessee.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 2,551 90.91%
Vacant 255 9.09%

42.23% of the total 2,806 housing units in Sweetwater are rental units. This is approximately 1,185 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 1,250 are occupied by the owner - or 44.55% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Sweetwater is $565.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Sweetwater that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    116
  • Less than $500
    492
  • $500 to $999
    631
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    36
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    9
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    17
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in Sweetwater is $130,200.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Sweetwater that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    83
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    265
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    456
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    245
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    123
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    56
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    22
  • $1,000,000 or more
    0

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Sweetwater. The chart below shows the number of properties in Sweetwater that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    209
  • 1940 to 1949
    195
  • 1950 to 1959
    133
  • 1960 to 1969
    223
  • 1970 to 1979
    779
  • 1980 to 1989
    331
  • 1990 to 1999
    333
  • 2000 to 2009
    369
  • 2010 to 2013
    234
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Sweetwater that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    220
  • 1 vehicle available
    1,016
  • 2 vehicles available
    610
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    705

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Sweetwater get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Sweetwater that commute to work in a particular way.

22.1 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Sweetwater.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    72
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    211
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    247
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    487
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    401
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    234
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    328
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    33
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    79
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    99
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    104
  • 90 or more minutes
    9

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Sweetwater, Tennessee in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.