There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in Tennessee that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.
Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in Volunteer State are so lucky.
Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within Tennessee’s’ borders. You know the places where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.
Like Pleasant View, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Tennessee according to Saturday Night Science. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Pleasant View. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in Tennessee as well.
Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement.
40.0 median age · 33.0% married households · #36 oldest in Tennessee
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
45.6 median age · 31.0% married households · #4 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Hamilton County, Tennessee
Soddy-Daisy is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 11,530 at the 2000 census and 12,714 at the 2010 census. The city was formed in 1969 when the communities of Soddy and Daisy, along with nearby developed areas along U.S. Highway 27, merged to form Soddy-Daisy. It is rapidly becoming a bedroom community of nearby Chattanooga and is part of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sequoyah Nuclear Generating Station is located in Soddy-Daisy.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
47.2 median age · 36.0% married households · #2 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Hawkins County, Tennessee
Mount Carmel is a town located in Hawkins County, Tennessee. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 5,429, an increase of 634 since the 2000 census. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol -Bristol Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the “Tri-Cities” region.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
44.6 median age · 38.0% married households · #8 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Hawkins County, Tennessee
Church Hill is a city in Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,916 at the 2000 census and 6,737 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol -Bristol Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the “Tri-Cities” region.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
39.1 median age · 29.0% married households · #42 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Tipton County, Tennessee
Atoka is a town in Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. Historians and genealogists can trace Atoka’s origins back to the 1838 charter of Portersville. Atoka adopted Portersville’s charter as its own. World War I Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Joseph B. Adkison lived in Atoka, and he is buried nearby.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
42.2 median age · 36.0% married households · #18 oldest in Tennessee
Data | Movers
40.3 median age · 25.0% married households · #34 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Fayette County, Tennessee
Oakland is a town in Fayette County, Tennessee, United States. In 2010 the population of the town was 6,623, a gain of 417.8% since 2000, for the largest gain of any municipality in the tri-state area of Memphis TN-MS-AR.
In June 2007, although much smaller in population than its counterparts, Oakland had the highest number of building permits issued for any suburb in the Memphis metropolitan area, including Southaven and Olive Branch, Mississippi, and Collierville, Tennessee. Retail stores make up most of the commercial business. Large retail stores located in Oakland, Include Walmart, Kroger, and Walgreens.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
40.8 median age · 24.0% married households · #29 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Sumner County, Tennessee
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
44.3 median age · 32.0% married households · #10 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Unicoi County, Tennessee
Erwin is a town in and the county seat of Unicoi County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,097 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the “Tri-Cities” region.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
44.7 median age · 26.0% married households · #7 oldest in Tennessee
Located in
Roane County, Tennessee
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States. It had a population of 5,934 at the 2010 United States census, and is included in the Harriman Micropolitan Statistical Area. Kingston is adjacent to Watts Bar Lake.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Tennessee’s statewide median.
On the map
Where the quiet settles in Tennessee
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the boring cities in the Volunteer State
You would present the following case to your friends if you were argueing with them at a bar about the most boring place to live in Tennessee. And that’s why we call it Saturday Night Science.
Because our data speaks more truth than feelings.
To figure out how boring a place is, we factored in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people.
We used the U.S. American Community Census data to gather the information presented here. Some of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring include:
- % of Population Over 25 (higher is more boring)
- % of Married Household (higher is more boring)
- Average Age (higher is more boring)
- % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
- Population density (lower is more boring)
Then, our algorithm generates a ranking for each place in these categories. After crunching the numbers, all of the cities ranked from most boring to most exciting.
For this ranking, we used every Tennessee city with at least 5,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.
Grab your rocker and hold on.
We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the most boring cities in Tennessee.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Most Boring Cities In Tennessee For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Boring Score | Population | Average Age | % Married | % Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pleasant View | 16.20 | 5,276 | 40.0 | 33.0% | 36.8% |
| 2 | Soddy-Daisy | 18.20 | 13,231 | 45.6 | 31.0% | 29.9% |
| 3 | Mount Carmel | 21.60 | 5,472 | 47.2 | 36.0% | 30.3% |
| 4 | Church Hill | 21.60 | 7,139 | 44.6 | 38.0% | 31.3% |
| 5 | Atoka | 23.60 | 10,385 | 39.1 | 29.0% | 40.6% |
| 6 | Smithville | 23.80 | 5,288 | 42.2 | 36.0% | 33.5% |
| 7 | Oakland | 26.10 | 9,979 | 40.3 | 25.0% | 31.6% |
| 8 | Millersville | 27.10 | 5,836 | 40.8 | 24.0% | 31.2% |
| 9 | Erwin | 28.80 | 5,988 | 44.3 | 32.0% | 32.5% |
| 10 | Kingston | 29.10 | 6,224 | 44.7 | 26.0% | 30.7% |
| 11 | Dunlap | 29.50 | 5,678 | 41.2 | 29.0% | 26.7% |
| 12 | Clinton | 30.20 | 10,239 | 43.3 | 30.0% | 26.9% |
| 13 | Lakeland | 30.30 | 14,192 | 41.0 | 23.0% | 39.9% |
| 14 | Lexington | 31.40 | 7,962 | 36.9 | 30.0% | 35.3% |
| 15 | Arlington | 34.00 | 15,205 | 36.7 | 29.0% | 49.6% |
| 16 | Greenbrier | 34.20 | 6,971 | 36.8 | 32.0% | 40.7% |
| 17 | Humboldt | 34.20 | 7,787 | 42.8 | 30.0% | 23.6% |
| 18 | Lawrenceburg | 34.20 | 11,844 | 41.3 | 25.0% | 28.3% |
| 19 | Sweetwater | 34.50 | 6,532 | 40.8 | 22.0% | 31.9% |
| 20 | Harriman | 35.10 | 6,090 | 39.9 | 26.0% | 25.0% |
| 21 | Signal Mountain | 36.80 | 8,860 | 44.3 | 20.0% | 35.9% |
| 22 | Tullahoma | 37.60 | 21,103 | 38.3 | 25.0% | 32.3% |
| 23 | Alcoa | 37.80 | 12,222 | 35.6 | 25.0% | 26.6% |
| 24 | Jonesborough | 38.20 | 6,232 | 42.6 | 22.0% | 26.4% |
| 25 | Winchester | 38.20 | 9,799 | 45.2 | 21.0% | 21.8% |
| 26 | Germantown | 38.50 | 40,673 | 44.3 | 26.0% | 34.5% |
| 27 | Rockwood | 38.70 | 5,566 | 47.2 | 18.0% | 21.2% |
| 28 | Madisonville | 39.20 | 5,241 | 41.9 | 19.0% | 26.0% |
| 29 | Kingsport | 40.00 | 56,262 | 43.0 | 23.0% | 26.2% |
| 30 | Greeneville | 40.20 | 15,646 | 42.2 | 22.0% | 23.8% |
| 31 | Covington | 41.10 | 8,587 | 40.3 | 35.0% | 24.1% |
| 32 | Farragut | 42.00 | 24,634 | 45.6 | 20.0% | 32.0% |
| 33 | Oak Ridge | 42.70 | 32,693 | 39.3 | 16.0% | 29.1% |
| 34 | Bristol | 43.00 | 27,636 | 41.1 | 19.0% | 27.4% |
| 35 | Crossville | 43.50 | 12,428 | 39.4 | 17.0% | 27.2% |
| 36 | Portland | 43.60 | 13,449 | 34.8 | 26.0% | 41.0% |
| 37 | Brentwood | 43.60 | 45,556 | 44.9 | 16.0% | 39.9% |
| 38 | Bartlett | 43.70 | 56,876 | 41.2 | 27.0% | 31.1% |
| 39 | Thompson’s Station | 43.90 | 8,294 | 38.5 | 14.0% | 44.6% |
| 40 | White House | 44.10 | 14,631 | 34.8 | 23.0% | 39.2% |
| 41 | Dickson | 45.30 | 16,424 | 33.8 | 22.0% | 36.4% |
| 42 | Millington | 45.50 | 11,289 | 37.6 | 20.0% | 27.6% |
| 43 | Lewisburg | 45.50 | 12,861 | 35.7 | 24.0% | 32.7% |
| 44 | Maryville | 45.70 | 32,392 | 40.8 | 24.0% | 33.5% |
| 45 | Medina | 46.40 | 5,407 | 34.9 | 40.0% | 51.6% |
| 46 | Dyersburg | 46.50 | 15,979 | 41.5 | 22.0% | 31.1% |
| 47 | Collierville | 46.50 | 51,515 | 41.0 | 20.0% | 40.1% |
| 48 | Elizabethton | 47.80 | 14,374 | 40.9 | 23.0% | 26.7% |
| 49 | Newport | 47.90 | 6,881 | 43.9 | 24.0% | 27.4% |
| 50 | Fairview | 48.40 | 10,009 | 32.7 | 21.0% | 40.0% |
| 51 | Dayton | 48.50 | 7,625 | 40.3 | 29.0% | 23.8% |
| 52 | Hendersonville | 48.60 | 63,091 | 40.3 | 20.0% | 32.0% |
| 53 | Munford | 49.00 | 6,588 | 32.1 | 25.0% | 36.8% |
| 54 | Bolivar | 49.40 | 5,144 | 34.5 | 31.0% | 24.7% |
| 55 | Sevierville | 49.40 | 18,397 | 39.6 | 16.0% | 24.5% |
| 56 | Nolensville | 49.50 | 15,074 | 37.3 | 17.0% | 53.6% |
| 57 | Milan | 49.60 | 8,244 | 36.4 | 29.0% | 31.5% |
| 58 | Lebanon | 49.60 | 44,788 | 35.0 | 20.0% | 31.5% |
| 59 | Brownsville | 49.80 | 9,622 | 40.4 | 19.0% | 32.1% |
| 60 | La Follette | 51.00 | 7,273 | 38.2 | 19.0% | 35.4% |
| 61 | Athens | 51.20 | 14,471 | 39.0 | 19.0% | 32.9% |
| 62 | Goodlettsville | 51.20 | 17,597 | 38.5 | 21.0% | 25.5% |
| 63 | Ripley | 51.60 | 7,658 | 33.3 | 23.0% | 33.5% |
| 64 | Paris | 51.60 | 10,338 | 38.5 | 20.0% | 24.1% |
| 65 | Lafayette | 52.00 | 5,727 | 32.3 | 32.0% | 38.8% |
| 66 | Mount Juliet | 53.10 | 42,073 | 39.3 | 15.0% | 42.1% |
| 67 | Fayetteville | 53.60 | 7,057 | 34.4 | 16.0% | 34.0% |
| 68 | Gallatin | 54.40 | 48,532 | 36.6 | 20.0% | 28.4% |
| 69 | McMinnville | 54.80 | 13,844 | 37.0 | 20.0% | 30.3% |
| 70 | Morristown | 55.90 | 31,527 | 36.3 | 20.0% | 35.8% |
| 71 | East Ridge | 57.30 | 22,070 | 37.6 | 20.0% | 24.7% |
| 72 | Manchester | 58.80 | 12,944 | 32.6 | 21.0% | 30.8% |
| 73 | Jackson | 59.00 | 68,435 | 35.5 | 22.0% | 32.1% |
| 74 | Red Bank | 60.40 | 12,010 | 37.9 | 18.0% | 19.1% |
| 75 | Spring Hill | 60.40 | 55,765 | 36.1 | 12.0% | 41.0% |
| 76 | Franklin | 60.40 | 87,133 | 38.6 | 12.0% | 32.7% |
| 77 | Savannah | 61.10 | 7,412 | 35.3 | 17.0% | 34.6% |
| 78 | Henderson | 62.70 | 6,411 | 28.1 | 17.0% | 39.6% |
| 79 | Pigeon Forge | 63.60 | 6,375 | 32.5 | 7.0% | 32.2% |
| 80 | Columbia | 64.00 | 45,441 | 35.5 | 17.0% | 31.7% |
| 81 | Pulaski | 64.40 | 8,285 | 37.2 | 18.0% | 22.8% |
| 82 | McKenzie | 65.80 | 5,631 | 32.9 | 21.0% | 25.9% |
| 83 | Smyrna | 66.10 | 56,692 | 34.1 | 14.0% | 38.7% |
| 84 | Springfield | 66.30 | 19,255 | 34.5 | 16.0% | 34.8% |
| 85 | La Vergne | 67.60 | 40,243 | 33.6 | 15.0% | 41.6% |
| 86 | Chattanooga | 69.10 | 185,783 | 36.3 | 16.0% | 23.7% |
| 87 | Shelbyville | 70.00 | 24,661 | 31.8 | 16.0% | 34.3% |
| 88 | Collegedale | 70.20 | 11,330 | 36.4 | 12.0% | 14.1% |
| 89 | Cleveland | 72.20 | 48,829 | 36.4 | 17.0% | 26.4% |
| 90 | Clarksville | 74.60 | 176,456 | 31.0 | 11.0% | 35.0% |
| 91 | Cookeville | 77.40 | 36,088 | 29.8 | 18.0% | 24.5% |
| 92 | Murfreesboro | 77.60 | 161,445 | 31.6 | 16.0% | 33.1% |
| 93 | Memphis | 77.60 | 618,980 | 34.2 | 15.0% | 28.3% |
| 94 | Martin | 79.80 | 10,915 | 24.5 | 18.0% | 21.6% |
| 95 | Knoxville | 84.20 | 195,185 | 33.5 | 16.0% | 21.4% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 95 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
On a ranking like this, there are usually no winners, but since Tennessee isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States, the cities on this ranking can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.
The most boring cities in Tennessee are Pleasant View, Soddy-Daisy, Mount Carmel, Church Hill, Atoka, Smithville, Oakland, Millersville, Erwin, and Kingston.
If you’re also curious enough, here are the most exciting places in Tennessee, according to science.
