All Tennessee Counties Report Unemployment Rates of 5% or Below

NASHVILLE – Every Tennessee county recorded an unemployment rate of 5% or less in May, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) announced today.

Ninety-four of the state’s 95 counties had unemployment rates below 5%, and one county — Hardeman County in southwestern Tennessee — had a rate of 5%.

Unemployment rates decreased from April to May in three counties. Rates increased in 92 counties.

Williamson County reported the lowest unemployment rate in May at 2.6%, up four-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month.

Four counties — Sevier, Rutherford, Cheatham, and Wilson — followed with rates of 2.7%.

Hardeman County’s unemployment rate of 5% was the highest in Tennessee last month. That rate was up five-tenths of a percentage point over April’s rate.

Johnson County recorded the second-highest unemployment rate for the month at 4.9%, a three-tenths of a percentage point decline from the previous month.

Perry County followed with a rate of 4.8%, up eight-tenths of a percentage point from April.

Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate in May was 3.5%. Unlike the statewide rate, county rates are not adjusted to account for seasonal impacts on employment.

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Tennessee will release statewide unemployment data for June on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. CDT.

A complete analysis of May 2025 county unemployment data for Tennessee