Grainger County

Grainger County, Tennessee — Key demographics

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census; American Community Survey (ACS) 2019–2023 5-year estimates

Population size

• Total population (2020 Census): 23,527

Age

• Median age: ~46 years (ACS 2019–2023)
• Under 18: ~21%
• 18–64: ~58%
• 65 and over: ~21%

Gender

• Female: ~50%
• Male: ~50%

Race and ethnicity (ACS 2019–2023; Hispanic is any race)

• White, non-Hispanic: ~93%
• Hispanic or Latino: ~3%
• Two or more races, non-Hispanic: ~3%
• Black or African American, non-Hispanic: ~0.5%
• American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: ~0.3%
• Asian, non-Hispanic: ~0.2%

Households (ACS 2019–2023)

• Total households: ~9,600
• Average household size: ~2.5
• Average family size: ~3.0
• Family households: ~67% of households
• Married-couple households: ~54% of all households
• Households with children under 18: ~26%
• Householder living alone: ~24% (about half of these are 65+)
• Homeownership rate: ~78–80%

Key insights

• Small, slow-growing county with an older age profile than state and national averages.
• Predominantly non-Hispanic White population with modest racial/ethnic diversity.
• Household structure is family- and owner-occupied–oriented, with relatively high homeownership.

Grainger County, TN (pop. ≈23.5k) is rural, with low density (~80–85 people per sq. mile). Adult population is ≈18–19k.

Email usage

• Estimated users: 15,000–17,000 adults (roughly 80–88% of adults), reflecting rural Tennessee adoption patterns and Pew Research email ubiquity among internet users.
• Age distribution of adult email users:
  • 18–34: ≈95% use email (≈4,200–4,600 users)
  • 35–64: ≈90% (≈8,000–8,800 users)
  • 65+: ≈70–75% (≈3,000–3,500 users)
• Gender split: near-even. Women are ~50–51% of residents; email usage gap by gender is negligible (<2 percentage points).

Digital access and trends

• Households with a computer: ~88–90%.
• Households with a broadband subscription: ~70–74% (below Tennessee’s metro average but improving).
• Smartphone-only home internet: ~15–20% of households.
• No home internet: ~22–26% of households, concentrated in the most rural tracts.
• Connectivity is strongest along the US‑11W corridor and town centers (Rutledge, Bean Station); terrain and low density raise last‑mile costs, but fiber and fixed‑wireless buildouts are expanding coverage year-over-year.

Implication: Email is a reliable channel for most adults, but outreach should include mobile-friendly design and offline options for the ~1 in 4 households without home broadband.

Summary of mobile phone usage in Grainger County, Tennessee

Context

• Rural, low-density county in East Tennessee with an older-than-state-average population and hilly terrain (Clinch Mountain, Cherokee Lake shorelines). These factors shape coverage quality, plan choices, and reliance on mobile data relative to Tennessee overall.

Best-available estimates and what they mean Note: There is no single official, up-to-the-minute dataset for county-level mobile adoption. The figures below are conservative estimates triangulated from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (types of computers and internet subscriptions), NTIA internet use surveys, Pew Research adoption patterns by age/income, and 2024 FCC coverage filings for East Tennessee. They’re intended for planning use and to highlight local-versus-state differences.

User estimates (2024–2025)

• Adult smartphone users: 16,000–18,000 residents, translating to roughly 80–86% of adults. This is a few points below Tennessee’s overall adult smartphone adoption, primarily due to the county’s older age mix and lower incomes.
• Households with at least one smartphone: 88–92% of households. Near the statewide rate, but with more households that are smartphone-only (no PC or tablet) than the state average.
• Mobile-only internet at home (households relying on mobile data or fixed wireless rather than cable/fiber/DSL): 28–35%, several points higher than the Tennessee average, reflecting limited wired options away from towns and lakeshore subdivisions.
• Wireless-only voice (adults living in cellular-only households): high by national standards and likely near or slightly below the Tennessee statewide rate; practical impact is greater dependence on cellular coverage for both voice and data, especially outside town centers.

Demographic usage patterns

• Age: Adults under 45 are near-saturated for smartphones (>90%), comparable to state levels. Adoption among adults 65+ trails the state by several points (roughly 55–65% smartphone adoption locally vs. low-to-mid 60s statewide), but seniors who do adopt are more likely than peers statewide to be smartphone-only for internet.
• Income: Prepaid and value MVNO plans (e.g., Straight Talk, Cricket, Metro) have a larger share than statewide averages. Cost sensitivity leads to smaller data buckets and a higher incidence of hotspotting instead of separate home broadband.
• Device mix: Android share is higher than the state average; upgrade cycles are longer. This shows up in app compatibility and security-update lags, relevant for service providers targeting older OS versions.
• Work/education: Commuters to Morristown/Knoxville corridors exhibit heavier daytime usage on highway-adjacent sectors; students and remote workers outside town centers lean on mobile hotspots or fixed wireless more than the state average.

Digital infrastructure and coverage realities

• Macro coverage: All three national carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) cover primary corridors and town centers (Rutledge, Bean Station, Blaine). 5G is present on main routes; LTE remains the fallback across much of the interior.
• Terrain-driven variability: Ridgetops and narrow valleys create patchy signal, with dead or weak zones on the back side of Clinch Mountain, in coves around Cherokee Lake, and on secondary roads away from US‑11W and TN‑32. This variability is more pronounced than the statewide norm.
• Capacity: Sector congestion is episodic along US‑11W during peak commuting and seasonal recreation near the lake. Average downlink speeds off-corridor lag the state average due to longer inter-site distances and less mid-band spectrum depth in rural nodes.
• Home internet via wireless:
  • Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) from T‑Mobile and Verizon is available along major corridors and in/near towns; availability thins in interior valleys. Take‑up is higher than the state average where cable/fiber is absent.
  • Satellite internet remains a fallback in pockets with poor cellular; Starlink adoption is visible in the most remote areas.
• Wired backhaul and fiber: Fiber-to-the-home is expanding but still limited outside town centers; DSL remains in use in some pockets. Compared with statewide, fewer households have cable/fiber, which pushes a higher share of data onto mobile networks.
• Public safety and resilience: TACN (state P25 system) sites in and around the county help overall emergency coverage; commercial carriers commonly co‑locate, but power/transport outages during severe weather can still create local service gaps longer than statewide averages.

How Grainger County differs from Tennessee overall

• Slightly lower adult smartphone adoption, driven by an older age profile.
• Higher reliance on mobile data or fixed wireless as the primary home connection due to sparser cable/fiber plant.
• Greater day-to-day variability in signal quality because of topography; more LTE fallback and fewer contiguous mid‑band 5G areas than the statewide experience.
• More prepaid/value plan usage and longer device replacement cycles, affecting app targeting and network load patterns.
• Higher share of smartphone-only households (no PC/tablet), raising the importance of mobile-friendly service design for banking, healthcare, and government interactions.

Actionable implications

• Service design: Optimize for Android and for older OS versions; keep app size and data use modest. Offer robust offline modes.
• Network planning: Prioritize mid‑band 5G infill on secondary roads and lake communities; add uplink capacity where FWA uptake is strong. Consider small cells or repeaters in known shadow zones.
• Digital inclusion: Mobile-first program delivery and device training for seniors will yield outsized gains versus statewide norms, given smartphone-only reliance and lower PC penetration.

Grainger County, TN: social media snapshot (2025)

Population context

• Rural county of roughly 24,000 residents with an older-than-US-average age profile; usage skews toward Facebook and YouTube, with rising short‑form video among younger users.
• Figures below reflect best-available 2023–2024 US/Pew benchmarks applied to rural Tennessee demographics; multi‑platform use is common, so percentages sum to >100.

Most-used platforms (share of residents 13+ who use each monthly)

• YouTube: ~80%
• Facebook: ~66%
• Instagram: ~38%
• TikTok: ~32%
• Snapchat: ~27%
• Pinterest: ~28% (disproportionately women)
• X (Twitter): ~14%
• LinkedIn: ~13%
• Reddit: ~12%

Age-group usage patterns

• Teens (13–17): Very high video and messaging use. YouTube ~95%; TikTok ~70%; Snapchat ~60%; Instagram ~60%; Facebook ~30%.
• Young adults (18–34): Multi-platform and creator-heavy. YouTube ~90%; Instagram ~65%; TikTok ~55%; Facebook ~70%; Snapchat ~50%.
• Midlife (35–64): Community and commerce-centric. Facebook ~75%; YouTube ~80%; Instagram ~30%; TikTok ~20%; Pinterest ~35% of women.
• Seniors (65+): News, family, and local info. Facebook ~60%; YouTube ~65%; Instagram ~15%; TikTok ~10%; Pinterest ~20%.

Gender breakdown

• Overall social-media user base skews slightly female in rural counties. Platform tilt: Facebook and Pinterest lean female; Reddit and X lean male; Instagram and TikTok are near-balanced under 35.

User stats and engagement

• Social media penetration (13+): roughly 70–75%.
• Daily use among users: ~70% check at least once daily; time concentrated early morning and 7–10 pm.
• Multi-platform behavior: typical user actively uses 3–4 platforms monthly; cross-posting to Reels/Shorts from TikTok is common among creators and local businesses.

Behavioral trends (what people actually do)

• Community hub: Facebook Groups and Pages drive local news, church updates, school and youth sports, lost/found pets, weather alerts, and civic Q&A.
• Commerce: Facebook Marketplace is the dominant peer-to-peer channel; small businesses rely on Facebook + Messenger for customer service and on boosted posts for reach. Google Maps reviews and Facebook reviews influence purchase decisions.
• Video-first shift: Short-form video (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) is rising for local restaurants, contractors, and events; how‑to and before/after content performs best.
• Messaging over posting: Many residents prefer private DMs (Messenger, Snapchat) to public comments for quotes, scheduling, and problem resolution.
• Events and fundraising: High engagement for bake sales, sports fundraisers, church events, festivals, and school announcements; posts with clear date/time and a single call‑to‑action outperform.
• News and trust: Localized updates from known individuals, schools, churches, and county agencies outperform national outlets; rumor control posts by admins and officials get strong traction.
• Platform roles: Facebook = community + commerce; YouTube = learning/entertainment and cord‑cutting replacement; Instagram = lifestyle and small-business branding; TikTok = discovery for under‑35s; Snapchat = teen/young‑adult chat; Pinterest = home, crafts, and seasonal planning; X = niche/sports/politics.