Van Buren County, Tennessee Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Van Buren County, 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 Van Buren County, Tennessee. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Van Buren County, Tennessee. The estimated population of Van Buren County, Tennessee is 6,083 people, with a median age of 47.2.

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

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
6,083
+4.64%
+7.19%
2020
5,813
+0.92%
-
2019
5,760
+0.98%
-
2018
5,704
+0.51%
-
2017
5,675
- -

Population of Van Buren County, 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
95.3%
96.3%
-1.04%
Black/African American
0.1%
0.3%
-66.67%
Native
0.8%
0%
0.00%
Hispanic
1.1%
0.9%
+22.22%
Asian
0%
0%
0.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
0.00%
Two Or More Races
2.7%
2.5%
+8.00%
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 Van Buren County, 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 47.2 +1.51% 46.2 +1.76% 47.4 +0.42%
2020 46.5 -0.85% 45.4 -0.44% 47.2 -1.67%
2019 46.9 -0.42% 45.6 +0.66% 48 -2.44%
2018 47.1 -0.21% 45.3 -0.66% 49.2 +0.61%
2017 47.2 - 45.6 - 48.9 -

The median age of Van Buren County, 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 9 237 +32.32% 271 +14.5% 317 312
10 to 19 365 -14.92% 353 -1.36% 312 342
20 to 29 295 +25.92% 190 +34.46% 376 262
30 to 39 269 +30.55% 265 +18.4% 340 311
40 to 49 441 -3.84% 392 -6.23% 413 360
50 to 59 431 +3.57% 449 -9.76% 442 406
60 to 69 542 -15.07% 476 +5.79% 461 487
70+ 290 +42.3% 409 +23.11% 433 509

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Van Buren County, Tennessee is $44,444.00.

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 Van Buren County.

  • Under 25
    $0.00
  • 25 to 44
    $57,024.00
  • 45 to 64
    $48,683.00
  • 65 and over
    $31,316.00

Average Household Income

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

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Van Buren County, 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 Van Buren County, Tennessee is currently $55,158.00.

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.

0.00% of households in Van Buren County 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 Van Buren County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    28.73%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    24.96%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    18.24%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    11.03%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    13.10%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    3.94%
  • $200,000 or more
    0.00%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Van Buren County is $22,144.00.

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

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

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Van Buren County 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
    3.59%
  • Bachelor's degree
    11.19%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    7.64%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    72.85%
  • Less than high school diploma
    4.73%

Employment

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

The total population of Van Buren County over the age of 16 is 5,062.

Of those people, a total of 50.70% 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 Van Buren County is 48.70%.

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 262 42.40% 22.50%
20 to 24 years 315 75.90% 0.00%
25 to 29 years 323 67.50% 13.80%
30 to 34 years 272 72.10% 0.00%
35 to 44 years 698 70.20% 7.60%
45 to 54 years 867 73.20% 0.00%
55 to 59 years 435 55.40% 2.90%
60 to 64 years 471 54.40% 0.00%
65 to 74 years 895 12.60% 0.00%
75 years and over 524 12.40% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Van Buren County. 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 4,802 51.30% 4.00%
Black or African American 7 0.00% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 46 0.00% 0.00%
Asian 0 0.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 35 62.90% 0.00%
Two or more races 172 44.80% 0.00%
Hispanic or Latino 65 75.40% 0.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 4,802 51.30% 4.00%

Occupations

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

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Van Buren County is 2,465, with median earnings of $31,516.00.

Women in Van Buren County, Tennessee earning approximately 69.10% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 2,465 $31,516.00
Male 1,271 $36,573.00
Female 1,194 $25,259.00

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 317 $51,547.00
Business and Financial 37 $61,563.00
Computer and Mathematical 4 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 38 $37,262.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 31 $0.00
Legal 22 $0.00
Educational and Library 38 $12,159.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 26 $0.00
Healthcare Practitioners 163 $58,539.00
Healthcare Support 194 $16,875.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 22 $0.00
Law Enforcement 75 $34,866.00
Food Preparation and Serving 132 $15,478.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 88 $21,765.00
Personal Care and Service 13 $10,694.00
Sales 197 $16,563.00
Office and Administrative Support 154 $30,833.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 65 $4,875.00
Construction and Extraction 131 $31,555.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 104 $35,735.00
Production 445 $32,457.00
Transportation and Material Moving 96 $31,371.00

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 171 $50,869.00 146 $53,135.00
Business and Financial 4 $0.00 33 $61,146.00
Computer and Mathematical 4 $0.00 0 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 35 $37,083.00 3 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 0 $0.00 31 $0.00
Legal 3 $0.00 19 $0.00
Educational and Library 25 $0.00 13 $106,458.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 5 $0.00 21 $0.00
Healthcare Practitioners 88 $58,732.00 75 $51,964.00
Healthcare Support 38 $0.00 156 $12,344.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 3 $0.00 19 $0.00
Law Enforcement 52 $37,857.00 23 $33,854.00
Food Preparation and Serving 14 $0.00 118 $15,478.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 41 $22,917.00 47 $18,977.00
Personal Care and Service 0 $0.00 13 $10,694.00
Sales 75 $39,766.00 122 $11,806.00
Office and Administrative Support 0 $0.00 154 $30,833.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 55 $9,375.00 10 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 131 $31,555.00 0 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 104 $35,735.00 0 $0.00
Production 336 $33,036.00 109 $28,250.00
Transportation and Material Moving 31 $42,969.00 65 $31,228.00

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 2,412 households in Van Buren County, with an average household size of 2.48 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 1,614 families in Van Buren County with an average family size of 3.02 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 1,268 128 218 798
Average Household Size 3.2 3.04 2.57 1.21
Total Families 1,268 128 218 0
Average Household Size 3.16 2.64 2.44 0

Poverty

Of the 1,614 families in Van Buren County, 10.70% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Van Buren County:

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 2,878 housing units in Van Buren County, Tennessee.

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

Total Percentage
Occupied 2,412 83.81%
Vacant 466 16.19%

12.54% of the total 2,878 housing units in Van Buren County are rental units. This is approximately 361 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 1,864 are occupied by the owner - or 64.77% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Van Buren County is $562.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Van Buren County 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
    187
  • Less than $500
    144
  • $500 to $999
    201
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    16
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    0
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    0
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in Van Buren County is $107,000.00.

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

  • Less than $50,000
    281
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    604
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    293
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    201
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    212
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    151
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    122
  • $1,000,000 or more
    0

Property Age

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

  • 1939 or earlier
    217
  • 1940 to 1949
    35
  • 1950 to 1959
    133
  • 1960 to 1969
    206
  • 1970 to 1979
    705
  • 1980 to 1989
    471
  • 1990 to 1999
    423
  • 2000 to 2009
    385
  • 2010 to 2013
    303
  • 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 Van Buren County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    223
  • 1 vehicle available
    695
  • 2 vehicles available
    766
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    728

Commuting to Work

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

31.1 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Van Buren County.

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
    120
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    240
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    82
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    167
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    266
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    82
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    511
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    55
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    98
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    338
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    258
  • 90 or more minutes
    35

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Van Buren County, 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.

Places in Van Buren County, Tennessee

We have data for 5 places in Van Buren County, Tennessee. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.