Knox County · Tennessee
Knoxville, TN demographics
Population, income and the local tax burden that sits on top of them — sourced from the Census Bureau and the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
Quick answer
Knoxville, TN has a population of 192,648 and a median household income of $57,254 — about $4,771 a month before tax. That ranks 75 of 94 covered metros by income and 79 of 94 by population.
Population
192,648
City limits, ACS 5-year
Median household income
$57,254
ACS 5-year estimate
Combined sales tax
9.25%
Tennessee + local
Income rank
#75
of 94 covered metros
Estimated annual sales tax on a median household
A Knoxville household at the median income of $57,254 spending roughly a quarter of pre-tax income on taxable retail goods would pay about $1,324 a year in sales tax at 9.25%. This is an illustration, not a filing figure: the taxable share of spending varies with household composition, and Tennessee exempts or discounts several categories. Knox County's local option rate matches Davidson's, so Knoxville and Nashville charge the same total despite very different budgets.
Method: median household income × 25% taxable share × combined rate. The 25% share is a rough national benchmark from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, not a Knoxville-specific measurement.
Sources
What each figure on this page comes from.
- Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
- Source: Tennessee Department of Revenue rate tables · rates as published for 2026