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Towns / Tennessee

Graysville, Tennessee

Graysville is a small town of about 1,500 people in Rhea County, Tennessee. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Knoxville, is about 73 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,506
up 1.8% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$104,700
Rhea County prices up 26% since 2022
Household income
$40,000
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Tennessee
84.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
8 miles
Dayton, TN
To Knoxville
73 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 15.1% below the U.S. average in the parts of Tennessee outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Graysville itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Sale Creek Middle / High School, about 5 miles away.
  • A hospital close byRhea Medical Center in Dayton, about 8 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityKnoxville is about 73 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Graysville meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$104,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 26%Rhea County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$761 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$40,000U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$705 a yearTennessee: $1,442
Homes built before 1940
7%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
12%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
84.9U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Tennessee outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 26% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Tennessee outside metro areas, not Graysville alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,5062020: 1,479
Median age
37.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
8%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (27%); retail (15%); construction (10%)
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
24%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Rhea Medical Center, Dayton, TN, about 8 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Affiliate of Vitruvian Health, Cleveland, TN, about 22 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Graysville, run by Rhea County. The nearest public high school is Sale Creek Middle / High School, about 5 miles away.

Colleges in or next to town: Omega Graduate School (under 1,000 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Tennessee's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
28°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
33 a year
Nights at or below freezing
72 a year
Rain and melted snow
58.7 inches a year
Snow
2 inches a year
Elevation
731 feet

Weather station: Dayton 2SE (5 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Rhea Medical Center, Cleveland, Knoxville.

Rhea County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park28 miles
  • Obed Wild and Scenic River43 miles
  • Manhattan Project National Historical Park51 miles
  • Russell Cave National Monument52 miles

Campus life. Check Omega Graduate School's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Graysville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Graysville?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Flat Top Mountain, TN (unincorporated)1,004 people, 11 miles
  • Mowbray Mountain, TN (unincorporated)1,721 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.