CitytisticsShortlist

Cost of living, pay and housing

36.40° N · 82.15° W · GEOID 4736500

Hunter

Carter County, Tennessee · part of the Johnson City, TN metro

Limited data population under 5,000, core figures borrowed from county or metro: median_gross_rent

TennesseeHunter, TNHunterHunter

The short answer

Hunter is home to 1,918 people. Median household income is $51,815 a year and median rent is $739 a month, 17.1% of income (a ratio of two medians, not any one household's burden). Rent pressure is lighter than in most places. The median home is valued at $169,500, about 3.3x annual median household income.

Median gross rent
$739
46% below the median place
Median household income
$51,815
35% below the median place
Median home value
$169,500
47% below the median place
Unemployment
6.2%
28% above the median place

Compared with the median of the 6,645 places we track. The bundle was checked 2026-11-14; each measure may refer to an older release.

What stands out about Hunter

  • 0% of residents were born outside the US, fewer than in 99% of the 1,842 places under 10,000 people we track. It is the lowest of 85 Tennessee places.
  • Between the 2019 and 2024 surveys, rent rose 7.9% a year while household income rose 3.5%, so rent outran pay by more than in 86% of places its size.
  • 89% of homes are owner-occupied, more than in 88% of places its size.
  • The median household earns $51,815 a year, less than in 83% of places its size.
  • 17% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, a smaller share than in 82% of places its size.
01

Moving to Hunter

Carter County gains about 16.1 residents per 1,000 a year to moves between counties.

Moved in3,222
Moved out2,558
Net+664

Where people come from and where they go, top counties

Johnson County, TN7057+13
Avery County, NC65

Within Tennessee, other states or abroad

Arrivals
Leavers
Within TennesseeOther states

Income per tax return

Arrivals$50K
Leavers$45K

People on tax returns who moved between counties, from IRS migration data, 2022 to 2023. Figures are for all of Carter County; flows under 20 returns are not published.

Who moves here
5.5% of residents arrived from another county in the past year, 0.0% from another state. County figure.
Who arrives and who leaves
Households moving into Carter County report $49,900 a year in income on average; those leaving, $44,700, so newcomers earn more than leavers.
Income you would need
$29,600 a year to rent the median home at the 30% line. From your city
Rent or buy
Median rent is $739 a month; owners with a mortgage pay $947 a month including taxes and insurance, on a median home of $169,500.
Getting to work
26 minutes each way on average; 7.2% work from home.
If it is close but not quite
Marion, NC matches it on character. Compare the two
Moved from another state1
0.0%
below the median place (median 2.0%)
Income of households moving out6
$44,744
36% below the median place
Net movers per 1,000 people6
16.1
above the median place (median -0.6)
All 5 moving measures
MeasureHunterAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Moved here in the past year1County figure5.5%3% below
Moved from another state10.0%below (median 2.0%)
Net movers per 1,000 people6County figure16.1above (median -0.6)
Income of households moving in6County figure$49,85229% below
Income of households moving out6County figure$44,74436% below
02

What it costs to live here

Owner costs with a mortgage is $947, 49% below the median place.

Hunter17.1%
Typical place20.4%

Share of the median household income that goes to the median rent. Above 30% is the usual stress line.

Income needed to rent
$29,560
a year, at the 30% line
Rent to income
17.1%
16% below the median place
Home price to income
3.3x
14% below the median place

Could you afford it?

The median rent would take
17%
comfortably under the 30% line
Left after rent, in US prices
$46,400
a year
Vs the typical household here
Same
as the median household

Uses the median rent in Hunter, $739 a month, and local prices for everything else (93.0 against a US average of 100). It runs in your browser and stores nothing.

Moving from somewhere else? Work out the salary you would need in Hunter.

Sponsored · exampleMoving to Hunter? Compare quotes from licensed movers. No partner is signed yet. Sponsored offers are always labelled and never change the data.
Owner costs with a mortgage1
$947
49% below the median place
Property tax paid (median)1
$682
79% below the median place
Property tax rate1
0.4%
56% below the median place
All 15 cost and housing measures
MeasureHunterAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median gross rent1County figure$73946% below
Rent to income117.1%16% below
Property tax rate10.4%56% below
Home price to income13.3x14% below
Prices vs US average2Metro figure87.913% below
Fair market rent, 2 bedrooms3County figure$1,21125% below
Property tax paid (median)1$68279% below
Median home value1$169,50047% below
Home prices, 1-year change4County figure3.7%17% above
Home prices, 5-year change4County figure73.3%42% above
Homeownership188.8%34% above
Renters paying 30%+1County figure36.5%28% below
Owner costs with a mortgage1$94749% below
Vacant homes1County figure13.1%86% above
Median year built119840% above
03

Work and pay

Commutes by transit is 0.0%, below the median place (median 0.8%).

Commutes by transit1
0.0%
below the median place (median 0.8%)
Median household income1
$51,815
35% below the median place
Income per person1
$29,056
27% below the median place
All 10 work and pay measures
MeasureHunterAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median household income1$51,81535% below
Income per person1$29,05627% below
Unemployment1County figure6.2%28% above
Average annual pay5County figure$52,41221% below
Pay growth, 1 year5County figure10.2%176% above
Jobs5County figure12,63992% below
Poverty rate1County figure17.1%59% above
Mean commute126 min3% above
Works from home1County figure7.2%42% below
Commutes by transit10.0%below (median 0.8%)
04

Who lives here

Born abroad is 0.0%, below the median place (median 8.8%).

Born abroad1
0.0%
below the median place (median 8.8%)
Homes with broadband1
97.0%
5% above the median place
Bachelor's or higher1
16.6%
48% below the median place

More about who lives here, against the typical place

High school or higher94.7% +3%
Median age39.9 +2%
Household size2.6 +3%
All 8 people measures
MeasureHunterAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Population11,9186646th largest
Median age139.92% above
Bachelor's or higher116.6%48% below
High school or higher194.7%3% above
Household size12.63% above
Born abroad10.0%below (median 8.8%)
No health insurance1County figure11.7%83% above
Homes with broadband197.0%5% above
05

Life in Hunter

13 sites are on the National Register of Historic Places, one of them a National Historic Landmark.

Out the door, against the typical place

Parks per 10k residents0.0 −100%
Playgrounds per 10k10.4 +11%
Grocery stores per 10k0.0 −100%
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k0.0 −100%
Libraries per 10k0.0 −100%
Named paths and bike trails5 km 2.4×
Bus and rail stops per sq mi0.0 −100%

Mapped by volunteers in OpenStreetMap inside the city limits (Census boundaries), so coverage is fuller in some places than others. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Businesses per 10,000 residents (county figures)

Restaurants and bars13.0 −38%
Shops24.3 −20%
Arts, recreation and fitness1.9 −54%
Doctors' offices and clinics10.9 −46%
Child care centers0.9 −61%

Counts businesses with paid staff, so small owner-run shops are not included.

Child care centers per 10k7
0.9
61% below the median place
Restaurants and bars per 10k7
13.0
38% below the median place
Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k7
1.9
54% below the median place
All 15 schools and local life measures
MeasureHunterAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Public schools10County figure19111% above
Public school students10County figure7,12846% above
Restaurants and bars per 10k7County figure13.038% below
Shops per 10k7County figure24.320% below
Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k7County figure1.954% below
Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k7County figure10.946% below
Child care centers per 10k7County figure0.961% below
Parks per 10k80.0below (median 10.2)
Playgrounds per 10k810.411% above
Grocery stores per 10k80.0below (median 2.1)
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k80.0below (median 11.2)
Libraries per 10k80.0below (median 0.9)
Named paths and bike trails84.8140% above
Transit stops per sq mi80.0below (median 0.2)
National Register listings9County figure130% above
06

Safety, weather and risk

Heat wave risk is 13.7, 85% below the median place.

No crime figure yet. Either the city police department did not report to the FBI for the latest year, or our monthly fetch has not reached Hunter. Larger places are fetched first.

Heat wave risk12
13.7
85% below the median place
Natural hazard risk12
63.2
32% below the median place
July average high11
82°F
5% below the median place
All 9 weather and risk measures
MeasureHunterAmong 6,645 placesVs median
July average high11County figure82°F5% below
January average low11County figure25°F0% below
Average temperature11County figure54°F2% below
Annual precipitation11County figure50.2 in15% above
Natural hazard risk12County figure63.232% below
Hurricane risk12County figure52.026% below
Tornado risk12County figure45.444% below
Wildfire risk12County figure60.81% below
Heat wave risk12County figure13.785% below
08

Hunter in 2030: where the trends point

If recent trends hold, the median rent will take about 18% of the median income in 2030, about the same as 18% now.

Citytistics projections to 2030: each figure's own trend, blended with the typical trend across the places we rate, eased toward long-run US growth and carried forward from the latest release. The range is where 80% of places landed when we tested the same method on past releases.

MeasureLatest2030 projectionLikely rangeAvg. per year
Median rent$756/mo (2024)$980/mo$800 to $1,190/mo+4.4%
Median household income$51,815 (2024)$65,500$55,500 to $78,000+4.0%
Median home value$169,500 (2024)$236,000$172,000 to $326,000+5.7%

The median home would be worth 3.6 years of the median income in 2030, against 3.3 now.

A projection of recent trends, not a prediction of the economy or advice to buy or sell. How we project.

09

Places like Hunter

The closest matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, and the places nearby.

PlaceRentIncome
Marion, NC$762$51,314Compare
Carthage, TX$797$51,250Compare
Center Line, MI$788$54,703Compare
Hillsboro, OH$770$55,521Compare
Hillsboro, OHCenter Line, MICarthage, TXMarion, NCHunter, TNHunterMarionCarthageCenter LineHillsboroHunterMarionCarthageCenter LineHillsboro

Common questions

Is Hunter a good place to live?

It depends on what you need, so here is what the numbers say. 0% of residents were born outside the US, fewer than in 99% of the 1,842 places under 10,000 people we track. It is the lowest of 85 Tennessee places. Between the 2019 and 2024 surveys, rent rose 7.9% a year while household income rose 3.5%, so rent outran pay by more than in 86% of places its size. See how it ranks with your own weights.

Is Hunter expensive to live in?

The median rent takes 17.1% of the median household income, against 20.4% in the typical place we track. Housing is a lighter load here than usual. The median home is valued at $169,500.

What salary do you need to live in Hunter?

To rent the median home without spending more than 30% of income on rent, a household needs about $29,560 a year. Work it out from your current city.

What places are similar to Hunter?

On income, rent, home value, education and age, the closest matches are Marion, NC, Carthage, TX, Center Line, MI and Hillsboro, OH.

Sources and methods

The small numbers beside each measure point here. Every dataset is public; links go to the publisher.

  1. American Community Survey 5-year estimates · US Census Bureau · 2020 to 2024 estimatesTables B01002, B01003, B05002, B07003, B08013, B08301, B15003, B17001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25010, B25035, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25088, B25103, B28002, S2701
  2. Regional Price Parities · US Bureau of Economic Analysis · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
  3. Fair Market Rents · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2027
  4. House Price Index · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
  5. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025 annual averages
  6. SOI Tax Stats, county-to-county migration · Internal Revenue Service · Tax years 2022 to 2023Counts tax returns and the people on them; flows under 20 returns are suppressed.
  7. County Business Patterns · US Census Bureau · 2023 data
  8. OpenStreetMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) · Map data as of 2026-11
  9. National Register of Historic Places · National Park Service · Listings through 2026-05-22
  10. Common Core of Data · National Center for Education Statistics · 2024 release
  11. 1991-2020 climate normals · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · Series updated 2026-11-05Averages for 1991 to 2020 computed from NOAA's county climate series (nClimDiv).nClimDiv county series
  12. National Risk Index · Federal Emergency Management Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14NRI data and maps

Derived by Citytistics from the tables above: rent to income (B25064, B19013); property tax rate (B25103, B25077); home price to income (B25077, B19013).

What stands out compares Hunter with places of a similar size, using only figures measured for Hunter itself; county and metro figures never count. Survey figures are estimates with margins of error. Formulas and definitions: methodology. API: /api/v1/places/hunter-tennessee

Citytistics. “Hunter, Tennessee.” Data as of 2026-11-14. https://www.citytistics.com/city/hunter-tennessee/

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.