Oak Ridge vs Rocky Top

A side-by-side comparison of Oak Ridge and Rocky Top: population, income, housing, and more.

Oak Ridge and Rocky Top are places in Tennessee. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Oak Ridge has the higher population (32,088 vs 1,830 in Rocky Top). Oak Ridge has the higher median household income ($71,000 vs $30,119 in Rocky Top). Oak Ridge has the higher median home value ($233,500 vs $112,200 in Rocky Top).

Population, income & housing

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
Population	32,088	1,830
Median age	39.2 yrs	30.1 yrs
Median household income	$71,000	$30,119
Median home value	$233,500	$112,200
Median gross rent	$1,076	$697
Housing units	14,909	897
Homeownership rate	64.5%	32.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	39.4%	8.6%
Unemployment rate	4.7%	14.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
Population	29,037 → 32,088 (+10.5%)	1,994 → 1,830 (-8.2%)
Median household income	$55,230 → $71,000 (+28.6%)	$26,827 → $30,119 (+12.3%)
Median home value	$155,800 → $233,500 (+49.9%)	$70,700 → $112,200 (+58.7%)
Median gross rent	$806 → $1,076 (+33.5%)	$489 → $697 (+42.5%)

Oak Ridge

Population

29,03732,088

Median household income

$55,230$71,000

Median home value

$155,800$233,500

Median gross rent

$806$1,076

Rocky Top

Population

1,9941,830

Median household income

$26,827$30,119

Median home value

$70,700$112,200

Median gross rent

$489$697

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
Under 5	4.9%	7.1%
5 to 17	19.8%	16.9%
18 to 24	6.5%	16.8%
25 to 34	13.6%	13.6%
35 to 44	11.7%	9.8%
45 to 54	11.5%	13.1%
55 to 64	13.1%	6.8%
65 to 74	11.1%	9.4%
75 and over	7.8%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
White (non-Hispanic)	79.9%	88.0%
Black or African American	6.1%	2.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	2.7%	3.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.0%	6.3%
Hispanic or Latino	6.6%	0.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
No high school diploma	8.8%	22.0%
High school graduate	21.6%	42.8%
Some college or associate's	30.2%	26.6%
Bachelor's degree	21.6%	3.8%
Graduate or professional degree	17.8%	4.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
Drove alone	71.4%	92.4%
Carpooled	11.6%	3.3%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	2.1%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.9%	3.6%
Other means	0.7%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
1-unit, detached	68.2%	48.9%
1-unit, attached	6.6%	4.2%
2 to 4 units	6.3%	20.4%
5 to 19 units	10.4%	15.9%
20 or more units	8.0%	0.4%
Mobile home & other	0.5%	10.0%

Poverty & households

	Oak Ridge	Rocky Top
Poverty rate	12.9%	43.5%
Average household size	2.38	2.41
Mean commute (minutes)	23	22
Median year structure built	1963	1976