Tennessee County Profiles & Rankings offer data-driven insights into the well-being of children and youth in communities across the state
Contact : Jonquil Newland | jonquil.newland@tn.gov | 615-767-0140
Tennessee County Profiles & Rankings offer data-driven insights into the well-being of children and youth in communities across the state
County Profiles & Rankings of Child Well-Being in Tennessee provide in depth county level data and rankings on child outcomes related to affordability & economic security, education & early learning, health & development, and child safety & risk behaviors
Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth has released the 2026 County Profiles & Rankings of Child Well-Being in Tennessee, offering an updated look at how children and youth are faring across the state. These county profiles highlight more than 100 county-specific indicators and rank each county based on 12 critical areas that shape child development. Topics covered in this year’s County Profiles & Rankings include affordability & economic security, education & early learning, health & development, mental health, child safety & risk behaviors and demographics, family structure & supports.
New this year, each county has access to an expanded county profile, highlighting additional county-specific data, trends over time and state comparisons. “We’re excited to grow our County Profiles and the data we provide to communities across Tennessee. No single ranking or set of indicators can fully capture the work already happening in our counties. Our hope is these expanded profiles will be a tool for communities as they identify what’s working, target what isn’t, and keep building better outcomes for Tennessee’s kids,” says TCCY Director of Data, Policy and Communications Kylie Graves.
The 2026 report includes many new indicators across new domains in each county’s expanded profile. Some of those new indicators include;
- New contextual data to supplement the one-page ranking, including historical trend lines, statewide comparisons and more thorough explanations of indicator methodology.
- Major additions to economic well-being data, including the number of children enrolled monthly in SNAP, median income trends, poverty by age, ALICE household data, fair-market rent, and home sales trends.
- New education insights include student growth, absenteeism trends, ACT performance, per-pupil funding, and more.
- A comprehensive new section on childcare availability that includes provider counts, infant-care access, subsidy participation, SmartSteps waitlist information and detailed child-care capacity vs. need analysis across all counties.
Comparing data across counties provide a glimpse into the varying needs of each county and the different experiences, access to resources and supports a child may have in one county compared to another. This in-depth county level data can also assist communities in identifying areas of success and where to focus resources within opportunities for improvement.
Overall, the counties that ranked in the top 10 are; Williamson County, Wilson County, Sumner County, Moore County, Smith County, Weakley County, Trousdale County, Rutherford County, Loudon County and Blount County.
The counties with the greatest opportunity for improvement are; Grundy County, Lauderdale County, Lewis County, Madison County, Hardeman county, Johnson County, Hancock County, Davidson County, Shelby County and Lake County.
Release Information
After publication the County Profiles & Rankings of Child Well-Being in Tennessee and additional information about data methodology can be found on the website and on TCCY’s FUTURE Data Dashboard.
About the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth
The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth is an independent, nonpartisan agency created to ensure the state’s policies and programs effectively promote and protect the health, well-being and development of children and youth.
Established by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1988 as a permanent commission, TCCY is the state’s centralized informational resource and advocacy agency for timely, fact-based information to aid policymaking and coordination of resources.
Detailed data pages about the county profiles can be found on TCCY’s Data Dashboard, FUTURE. Additional information about the agency is available at www.tn.gov/tccy.
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