Gatlinburg vs Pigeon Forge

A side-by-side comparison of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge: population, income, housing, and more.

Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are places in Tennessee. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Pigeon Forge has the higher population (6,345 vs 3,643 in Gatlinburg). Gatlinburg has the higher median household income ($57,760 vs $53,839 in Pigeon Forge). Gatlinburg has the higher median home value ($286,500 vs $258,700 in Pigeon Forge).

Population, income & housing

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
Population	3,643	6,345
Median age	44.6 yrs	35.4 yrs
Median household income	$57,760	$53,839
Median home value	$286,500	$258,700
Median gross rent	$1,056	$953
Housing units	4,775	5,113
Homeownership rate	66.6%	49.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.5%	11.5%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	1.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
Population	4,004 → 3,643 (-9.0%)	6,229 → 6,345 (+1.9%)
Median household income	$40,802 → $57,760 (+41.6%)	$45,660 → $53,839 (+17.9%)
Median home value	$210,600 → $286,500 (+36.0%)	$171,600 → $258,700 (+50.8%)
Median gross rent	$792 → $1,056 (+33.3%)	$755 → $953 (+26.2%)

Gatlinburg

Population

4,0043,643

Median household income

$40,802$57,760

Median home value

$210,600$286,500

Median gross rent

$792$1,056

Pigeon Forge

Population

6,2296,345

Median household income

$45,660$53,839

Median home value

$171,600$258,700

Median gross rent

$755$953

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
Under 5	3.3%	6.0%
5 to 17	20.4%	23.0%
18 to 24	4.0%	8.3%
25 to 34	13.0%	11.5%
35 to 44	9.8%	12.5%
45 to 54	11.9%	9.5%
55 to 64	14.2%	13.1%
65 to 74	14.2%	8.7%
75 and over	9.1%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
White (non-Hispanic)	73.9%	65.1%
Black or African American	4.6%	2.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	3.3%	1.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.8%	7.1%
Hispanic or Latino	16.3%	24.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
No high school diploma	10.0%	25.8%
High school graduate	25.7%	34.8%
Some college or associate's	30.8%	27.9%
Bachelor's degree	22.3%	7.6%
Graduate or professional degree	11.2%	3.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
Drove alone	59.6%	76.1%
Carpooled	17.9%	17.4%
Public transit	3.0%	0.0%
Walked	12.9%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.6%	4.5%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
1-unit, detached	54.6%	50.2%
1-unit, attached	1.4%	0.4%
2 to 4 units	8.1%	11.2%
5 to 19 units	15.9%	8.2%
20 or more units	19.5%	20.7%
Mobile home & other	0.4%	9.3%

Poverty & households

	Gatlinburg	Pigeon Forge
Poverty rate	12.4%	23.0%
Average household size	2.58	2.69
Mean commute (minutes)	17	22
Median year structure built	1988	1996