Rutherford County, Tennessee
Selected Statistical Information
I.  Geography & Demographics Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank Percent of State
Total Land Area (sq. mi.)                 41,217                619 8th  1.5%
Farmland (2007)          
Acres of Farmland            10,969,798         164,411  22nd   1.5%
Number of Farms                 79,280             1,525  11th   1.9%
Average Size of Farms (Acres)                     138                108  67th   78.3%
Population            
2008 Estimate 6,214,888 249,270 5th  4.0%
2000 Census 5,689,283 182,023 5th  3.2%
1990 Census 4,877,203 118,570 6th  2.4%
Gain (1990 to 2000) 812,080 63,453 2nd  7.8%
Growth Rate (1990 to 2000) 16.7% 53.5% 2nd  321.4%
Population Density (per sq. mi.)         Comparison to State Figure
2008 Estimate                   150.8             402.8 5th  267.1%
2000 Census                   138.0             294.1 8th  213.1%
1990 Census                   118.3             191.6 11th  161.9%
Urban Population         Percent of State
2000 Census            3,618,968         137,004 5th  3.8%
1990 Census            2,969,948           65,963 7th  2.2%
Growth Rate (1990 to 2000) 21.9% 107.7% 7th  492.8%
Percent of Population in Urban Areas
2000 Census 63.6% 75.3% 5th  118.3%
1990 Census 60.9% 55.6% 12th  91.4%
Median Age            
2000 Census 36 31 94th  86.9%
1990 Census 34 30 94th  89.0%
Population Percentages by Age Bracket        
2000 Census
under 18 24.6% 26.4% 9th 
18-24 9.6% 13.2% 5th 
25-44 30.2% 33.5% 5th 
45-64 23.2% 19.4% 94th 
65 & over 12.4% 7.5% 95th 
1990 Census
under 18 25.1% 26.9% 16th 
18-24 10.9% 14.2% 5th 
25-44 31.8% 34.3% 4th 
45-64 19.6% 16.1% 94th 
65 & over 12.6% 8.4% 92nd 
Population Growth by Age Bracket, 1990 to 2000  
Population Percentages by Race/Ethnicity (2000 Census)  
Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank* Comparison to State Figure
Males per 100 Females (2007) 95.4 94.1 20th  98.7%
Marriages Recorded per 1,000 Population in 2006 10.7 7.5 77th  70.1%
Divorces Recorded per 1,000 Population in 2006 4.7 5.7 78th  121.3%
*A rank of 1 indicates the best condition.
II.  Income & Poverty Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank* Comparison to State Figure
Per Capita Personal Income          
2006 $32,172 $30,519 14th  94.9%
2000 $26,097 $26,624 8th  102.0%
Compound Annual Growth Rate 3.55% 2.30% 87th  64.85%
Median Household Income          
2007 $42,389 $51,307 5th  121.0%
2000 $35,760 $47,801 3rd  133.7%
Compound Annual Growth Rate 2.46% 1.02% 93rd  41.33%
2007 Poverty Rate          
All Ages  15.8% 11.8% 8th  74.68%
Related Children Under 18 Years  22.5% 13.9% 5th  61.78%
2000 Census            
All Ages  13.1% 16.5% 71st  125.84%
Related Children Under 18 Years 15.9% 21.5% 73rd  134.70%
2007 Food Stamp Recipients (Monthly Average )          
Percent of Households 15.8% 9.8% 6th  62.07%
Percent of Individuals 14.1% 7.9% 3rd  56.21%
2007 Families First           
Percent of Households 2.5% 1.4% 23rd  56.09%
Percent of Individuals 2.5% 1.2% 27th  46.52%
*A rank of 1 indicates the best condition.
III.  Health & Healthcare Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank* Comparison to State Figure
2007 Pregnancy & Birth Rates           
Live births per 1,000 Population                    14.2               17.0 4th  119.7%
Percent of Live Births to Unmarried Parents 42.8% 35.1% 24th  82.0%
Percent Low Birth Weight 9.4% 8.1% 29th  86.2%
Pregnancies per 1,000 Females Aged 15-44                    80.7               84.6 9th  104.8%
Pregnancies per 1,000 Females Aged 10-17                    13.9               12.7 56th  91.4%
Pregnancies per 1,000 Females Aged 10-14                      1.3                1.3 65th  100.0%
* A rank of 1 indicates the best condition.
2007 Mortality Rates           
Number of Deaths per 1,000 Population                      9.3                5.8 2nd  62.4%
Number of Deaths per 100,000 Population by Cause of Death
Diseases of the Heart                   233.2             155.6 4th  66.7%
Cancer (Malignant Neoplasm)                   215.3             136.7 2nd  63.5%
* A rank of 1 indicates the best condition.
25th 
38th 
25th 
Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank Comparison to State Figure
Access to Healthcare          
Medical Doctors per 1,000 (2007)                      1.8                1.2 20th  65.5%
Hospital Beds per 1,000 Population (2006)                      4.2                1.6 59th  37.8%
Nursing Home Beds per 1,000 Pop. 65 & older (2006)                    49.2                9.1 94th  18.6%
2006 Charity Care--Percent of All Hospital Care  8.5% 4.5% 27th  53.1%
IV.  Employment
Unemployment Rate   Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank* Comparison to State Figure
2009 (February) 9.5% 9.3% 19th  97.5%
2000 4.0% 3.1% 3rd  77.3%
2007 Youth Unemployment Rate  15.7% 15.5% 43rd  98.9%
* A rank of 1 indicates the best condition.
2007 Employment Percentages by Major Industry   Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank Comparison to State Figure
Total Employment All Industries 2,745,397 98,773 5 3.6%
Natural Resources and Mining 0.4% 0.0% 61 11.0%
Construction 4.9% 5.1% 7 105.1%
Manufacturing 13.8% 22.7% 4 163.8%
Trade, Transportation and Utilities 22.1% 20.7% 5 93.5%
Information 1.8% 2.9% 5 161.8%
Financial Activities 5.2% 4.0% 6 76.2%
Professional and Business Services 11.8% 12.5% 6 106.1%
Education and Health Services 12.4% 8.1% 8 65.1%
Leisure and Hospitality 10.1% 9.4% 7 93.6%
Other Services 2.6% 1.8% 6 69.2%
Government 14.9% 0.6% 66 3.8%
Federal 1.8% 0.6% 9 31.8%
State 3.3% 0.0% 68 0.0%
Local 9.9% 0.0% 68 0.0%
2007 Average Annual Wage by Major Industry         County Rank
7th 
20th 
14th 
3rd 
9th 
7th 
11th 
39th 
11th 
22nd 
16th 
8th 
24th 
68th 
68th 
V.  Value of Farmland and Agricultural Products Sold
Tennessee Rutherford County Rank
Estimated Market Value of Farmland & Buildings   $           467,420  $      493,027 26th 
(Average Per Farm)
Estimated Market Value of Farmland & Buildings   $               3,378  $         4,573 16th 
(Average Per Acre)
Total Market Value of Agicultural Products Sold   $  2,617,394,000  $ 24,460,000 41st 
VI.  County Government Finance (municipalities' revenue data not available)
2001-2002 Revenue by Source (in thousands)   Tennessee Percent of Total Rutherford County Percent of State Total
Grand Total  $         8,062,012 100.0%  $  270,933 100.00%
Total State Revenue  $         2,504,883 31.1%  $    78,953 29.1%
Public Schools            1,949,045 24.2%        69,238 25.6%
All Other               555,838 6.9%         9,716 3.6%
Federal Revenue  $           511,055 6.3%  $      9,070 3.3%
Total Local Revenue  $         5,046,074 62.6%  $  182,910 67.5%
Property Tax            2,720,971 33.8%        80,961 29.9%
Local Sales Tax            1,123,100 13.9%        31,360 11.6%
Other Local             1,202,003 14.9%        70,589 26.1%
 Tax Base (in thousands)   Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank Percent of State
2007 Equalized Assessed Property Value  $     131,625,598  $   4,869,996
Tax Base Per Capita $21,179 $19,537 6th  92.2%
2007 County Property Tax Rate (per $100) $2.44 37th 
2008 Total Taxable Sales   $       69,005,974  $   2,826,092
Tax Base Per Capita $11,103 $11,337 3rd  102.1%
2008 County Sales Tax Rate 2.75% 1st 
VII.  Public Infrastructure Needs Inventory
Estimated Costs, 2007 - 2012 (in thousands)   Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank Percent of State
Project  Type
Transportation  $       17,106,712  $      389,489 10th 2.3%
Non K-12 Education            3,015,869         346,667 3rd 11.5%
Water & Wastewater            3,855,355         174,598 4th 4.5%
K-12 New School Construction            1,798,581         147,718 3rd 8.2%
Public Buildings               526,288           80,525 3rd 15.3%
Law Enforcement            1,826,201           80,243 4th 4.4%
Recreation            1,118,527           54,196 6th 4.8%
Existing School Improvements            1,899,735           33,609 16th 1.8%
Fire Protection               220,725             4,635 11th 2.1%
Business District Development               375,758             3,850 12th 1.0%
Other Utilities               598,698             2,300 14th 0.4%
Community Development               367,547                795 29th 0.2%
Public Health Facilities               323,093                650 17th 0.2%
Housing               100,189                500 10th 0.5%
Libraries, Museums, & Historic Sites               285,785                400 40th 0.1%
School System-wide Need                 63,021                180 13th 0.3%
Stormwater               371,227                    - 39th 0.0%
Industrial Sites & Parks               241,362                    - 68th 0.0%
Solid Waste                 54,314                    - 30th 0.0%
Other Facilities                 32,755                    - 9th 0.0%
Telecommunications                 17,009                    - 5th 0.0%
Property Acquisition                   3,956                    - 8th 0.0%
Grand Total  $       34,202,707  $   1,320,355 5th 3.9%
VIII.  Adult & Post-secondary Education
Adult Educational Attainment     Tennessee Rutherford County County Rank
2000 Census
Percent w/ HS diploma (or equivalent) or better 75.9% 81.8% 4th 
Percent w/ Bachelors Degree or better 19.6% 22.9% 6th 
2008 Estimate
1990 Census
Percent w/ HS diploma (or equivalent) or better 67.1% 73.9% 6th 
Percent w/ Bachelors Degree or better 16.0% 18.7% 7th 
 Number of Post-secondary Institutions (2008)      
Four-year Colleges and Universities 77 1
Public 14 1
Private 63 0
Other Public Institutions 93 1
Community Colleges 13 0
Technology Centers 27 1
Two-Year Private Institutions 20 1
Off-campus Sites 33 0
2007 - 2008 Enrollment (full-time equivalent) at Post-secondary Institutions    
Four-year Colleges and Universities*          214,260              23,890
Public 134,696 23,890
Private 79,564 0
Other Public Institutions* 134,278 3,854
Community Colleges 80,454 0
Technology Centers 13,939 3,284
Two-Year Private Insitutions 11,049 570
Off-campus Sites 28,836 0
* Note: By location of instiution, not county of residence of students
IX.  Public School Systems  (Total number of school systems is 136)
Statewide Rutherford County Murfreesboro City  
Number of Students
2007-2008                 944,738                   35,706             6,849            
Percent of Statewide 3.8% 0.7%        
1997-1998                 834,318                   22,347             5,321            
Percent of Statewide 2.7% 0.6%        
Increase/(Decrease)                 110,420 13,359 1,528        
Percent Change 13.2% 59.8% 28.7%        
2007-2008
Free or Reduced-price Meals 54.5% 35.2% 48.8%
Federal Title 1 39.7% 14.7% 11.4%
Special Education 14.7% 13.6% 10.7%
English Language Learners 3.2% 4.7% 6.8%
Statewide Rutherford County Murfreesboro City  
2007-2008 Accreditation by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools 
Elementary Schools 71.5% 100.0% 100.0%
Secondary Schools 90.8% 0.0% 100.0%
Students per Classroom Teacher*
2007-2008                      14.9                      15.8               14.3            
1997-1998                      15.8                      16.4               16.7            
Increase/(Decrease)                       (0.9)                       (0.6)                (2.5)                
Progress Through School
Promotion Rate
2007-2008 98.0% 98.9% 96.1%        
1997-1998 96.6% 96.8% 98.1%
Dropout Rate
2007-2008 10.1% n/a 10.6%
1997-1998 4.5% 6.2% n/a
*Classroom teachers include art, music and physical education teachers.  Because these auxiliary teachers are
included, ratios of students to classroom teachers do not represent and tend to be lower than actual class sizes.
Statewide Rutherford County Murfreesboro City  
Expenditures per Student
2007-2008 $7,742 $6,783 $7,884
Percent of Statewide 87.6% 101.8%        
1997-1998 $5,123 $4,588 $4,870
Percent of Statewide 89.6% 95.0%        
Increase/Decrease $2,618 $2,194 $3,014        
Percent Change 51.1% 47.8% 61.9%        
Classroom Teachers' Average Salary*
2007-2008 $44,820 $43,864 $45,759
Percent of Statewide 97.9% 102.1%
1997-1998 $34,584 $34,862 $35,647
Percent of Statewide 100.8% 103.1%
Gain $10,236 $9,002 $10,112
Percent Change 29.6% 25.8% 28.4%        
Revenue by Source (percent of total)
2007-2008
State 47.6% 52.3% 47.5%
Federal 10.8% 6.1% 8.9%
Local 41.6% 41.6% 43.6%
System Rank for Percent Local 23rd  20th 
2006-2007
State 45.5% 50.8% 42.2%
Federal 11.0% 7.2% 10.5%
Local 43.5% 42.1% 47.4%
System Rank for Percent Local 26th  17th 
Statewide Rutherford County County Rank
2008-2009 County Area Fiscal Capacity        
Estimated Local Revenue per Student $2,782 $2,521 15th 
Sources of Information for County Profiles
I. Geography & Demographics
U.S. Bureau of the Census--all data except for marriage and divorce rates.
www.census.gov
U.S. Department of Agriculture - farmland data
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
TN Dept. of Health - marriage and divorce rates.
http://health.state.tn.us/
II. Income & Poverty
U.S. Bureau of the Census--median household income data & poverty rates.
www.census.gov
TN Dept. of Human Services--Food Stamp data and Families First data.
http://www.tennessee.gov/humanserv/adfam/afs_fsp.htm
http://www.tennessee.gov/humanserv/adfam/afs_tanf.htm
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis - per capita income data
www.bea.gov
III. Health & Healthcare
TN Dept.of Health, Health Statistics & Research--pregnancy, births, mortality & healthcare access data.
http://health.state.tn.us/statistics/healthdata.htm
IV. Employment
TN Dept. Of Labor and Workforce Development - unemployment data. 
http://www.state.tn.us/labor-wfd/
U.S. Department of Labor - employment data.
ww.bls.gov/lau/home.htm
V. Value of Farmland and Agricultural Product Sold
U.S. Department of Agriculture - farmland data
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
VI. County Government Finance (municipalities' revenue data not available)
TN County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS), Resource Center--county revenue data.
www.ctas.utk.edu
TN Comptroller of the Treasury, Division of Property Assessment--equalized assessed property values.
http://www.comptroller.state.tn.us/pa/taxaggr.htm
TN Dept. of Revenue--total taxable sales.
www.state.tn.us/revenue/files.htm
VII. Public Infrastructure Needs Inventory
TN Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations--all data. 
http://tn.gov/tacir/infrastructure.html
VIII. Adult & Post-secondary Education
U.S. Bureau of the Census--educational attainment.
www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/educ-attn.html
TN Higher Education Commission--post-secondary institution and enrollment data.
www.state.tn.us/thec
IX. Public School Systems (Total number of school systems is 136)
TN Department of Education--all data except fiscal capacity.
http://www.state.tn.us/education/mdata.shtml
TN Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations--education fiscal capacity.
http://tn.gov/tacir/fiscalcapacity.html
Prepared by TACIR