We recently compiled a report on the 16 Best Places to Live in Tennessee and in this article we will talk about the top place, according to our methodology.
Economic Outlook of Tennessee
The economy of Tennessee is backed by diverse sectors including healthcare, automotive, finance, electronics, and tourism. According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the GDP of Tennessee grew by 2.8% during the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023 as compared to the national growth rate of 3.4%. Moreover, the Real GDP of Tennessee increased by 3.2% from $412.10 billion in 2022 to $425.41 billion in 2023. The economic growth during the year was mainly attributed to the growth in retail trade, which contributed the most at 0.86% in the GDP growth, followed by the real estate and leasing sector and the professional, scientific, and technical services sector, which contributed 0.35% and 0.28% respectively. In addition to the GDP, personal income in the state is also growing. The personal income of an individual increased by 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023 surpassing the national increase of 4.0% during the same quarter. While the net earnings of individuals in Tennessee grew by 4.8% during the last quarter of 2023, the dividends, interest payments, and rents also increased substantially by 8.2% thereby restricting the personal income in the state. If you want to read more about the economy of Tennessee and the population growth in the state, you can take a look at the 15 Fastest Growing Cities in Tennessee.
Tennessee’s Labor Market Projections
Healthcare and Social Assistance, manufacturing, and retail trade are some of the largest sectors employing most of the labor force of the state. According to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development, employment in the state is forecasted to grow 2.3% annually to reach 3.6 million jobs by 2025. In a sector-wise analysis, healthcare and social assistance is expected to remain the largest sector employing almost 439,000 people by 2025. In addition to the healthcare sector, the manufacturing sector is also a main contributor to creating jobs for the labor market. The manufacturing sector is forecasted to create more than 374,000 jobs for the citizens of Tennessee by 2025. Growth in the manufacturing sector is mainly attributed to the state’s positive economic outlook that attracts businesses and the fast-growing automotive manufacturing industry of Tennessee. Automotive manufacturing and other related industries alone are expected to create more than 25,500 jobs by 2025. On March 21, PPG Industries, Inc (NYSE:PPG), a US-based international paint manufacturer and distributor, announced building a new paint and coating manufacturing facility in Tennessee. PPG Industries, Inc (NYSE:PPG) as part of its aim to grow and gain operational efficiency in the automotive coating will invest $300 million to build a 250,000-square-foot facility plant in Loudon County, Tennessee. The construction of the PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) facility will start in August 2024 and is expected to be completed by 2026.
Another company leading the economy of Tennessee includes HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA). HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) is a leading acute healthcare company that owns and runs hospitals, medical services, surgical services, patient care, and much more. The company is based in Nashville, Tennessee. On April 26, HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) announced earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2024. The company reported earnings per share of $5.36, ahead of market expectations by $0.27. The company’s revenue for the quarter grew by 11.21% year-on-year, amounting to $17.34 billion, and outperformed market consensus by $523.72 million. Here are the comments from HCA Healthcare, Inc.’s (NYSE:HCA) earnings call for Q1 2024:
As compared to the prior year, diluted earnings per share as adjusted increased almost 9% in the first quarter to $5.36. The same facility’s volumes were favorable across the company. Inpatient admissions grew 6% year-over-year, inpatient surgeries were up almost 2%, equivalent admissions grew 5% and emergency room visits increased 7%. Most of our other volume categories, including cardiac procedures and rehab admissions, also had solid growth metrics in the quarter. While outpatient surgery revenue increased year-over-year due primarily to favorable payer mix, total cases declined 2%. We attribute most of this decrease to the effect of the calendar and the redetermination process, which drove a considerable decline in Medicaid volume. All domestic divisions had growth in inpatient admissions and equivalent admissions.
Photo by Heidi Kaden on Unsplash
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 16 best places to live in Tennessee in 2024, we ran a survey on Reddit. First, we aggregated the list of best places by sifting through 5 online rankings. Next, we used Reddit to find 13 threads that asked people about the best places to live in Tennessee. We read and analyzed all the comments and added the upvotes for each best place on our list. Lastly, we shortlisted places that had at least a total of 150 upvotes and ranked the best places on our list in ascending order of the total upvotes on Reddit.
Note: This list is not exhaustive and does not reflect our opinion. The ranking is solely based on the opinions of Reddit users. Also note that we have added information regarding city population, literacy rates, and employment rates for our list items sourced from the US Census Bureau.
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The Best Place to Live in Tennessee
1. Nashville
Upvotes: 2,038
Nashville is the best place to live in Tennessee in 2024. It is the capital city of Tennessee and is home to some of the country’s music venues, Vanderbilt University, and other music-related places such as the Grand Ole Opry, and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
As of 2020, the city had a population of 689,447 residents and approximately 316,349 housing units. In addition, the city of Nashville had a literacy rate of 48.7% (bachelor’s degree or higher) and an employment rate of 70.1% in 2022. Moreover, according to the US Census Bureau, the city had a median household income of approximately $65,254 in 2022.
To learn about other best places to live in Tennessee, you can check out our detailed report on the 16 Best Places to live in Tennessee.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published on Insider Monkey.
