Hamilton County, Tennessee

A county in Tennessee, ranked 4 of 95 by population.

CountyFIPS 47065

Within Tennessee
Hamilton County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Chattanooga, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
390,833
+22,947 (+6.2%) since 2020
Land area
542.2
square miles. A further 5.8% of the total area is water
Population density
721
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Chattanooga
Seat of county government.
Established
1819
206 years ago
Largest city
Chattanooga city
Population 194,144.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Hamilton County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Hamilton County, Tennessee from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 739 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Hamilton County ranks

Position among the 95 counties of Tennessee, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn TennesseeNationally
Population390,8334th of 95198th of 3,144
Land area542.2 sq mi27th of 951,926th of 3,144
Population density721 per sq mi4th of 95210th of 3,144
Median household income$76,18311th of 95768th of 3,143

Full data for Hamilton County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population390,833Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020367,886Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?366,840Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area542.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area33.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area575.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?721 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$76,183American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$312,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households154,181American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units168,013American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+474
4,547 births, 4,073 deaths
Net migration
+3,067
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 10 areas bordering Hamilton County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Bradley CountyTennessee27 mi115,465
Marion CountyTennessee17 mi29,804
Sequatchie CountyTennessee17 mi17,861
Catoosa CountyGeorgia16 mi69,628
Meigs CountyTennessee13 mi14,186
Bledsoe CountyTennessee11 mi15,920
Rhea CountyTennessee11 mi34,844
Dade CountyGeorgia6.3 mi16,154
Walker CountyGeorgia5.6 mi70,250
Whitfield CountyGeorgia0.2 mi106,212

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 95 counties of Tennessee

Open the interactive Tennessee county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.