Life Skills and Money Education in Union County, Tennessee

With a population of roughly 21,064, Union County, Tennessee is the 66th-largest of 95 counties in Tennessee. Since 2020 it has added residents, rising 6.1% from 19,845 to 21,064. The median age is 42.4.

Among adults 25 and older in Union County, 14.5% hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That sits 2.2 points below the Tennessee average of 16.7%. Flip that figure and it describes 85.5% of the 14,311 adults 25 and over counted in the 2019–2023 ACS, about 12,236 people whose money skills came from somewhere other than a university.

Median household income is $61,858. That is $7,447 above the Tennessee median. About 13.9% of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is valued at $186,300 — about 3× the median household income, a ratio that makes the arithmetic of a mortgage worth understanding before signing one.

Union County by the numbers

Measure	Value
Population (2024)	21,064
Change since 2020	+6.1%
Median household income	$61,858
Adults 25+ with a bachelor’s degree	14.5%
Adults 25+ with a high school diploma	83.3%
Median age	42.4
Poverty rate	13.9%
Unemployment rate	4.1%
Median home value	$186,300
Land area	223.583 sq mi
Population density	94 / sq mi

What Tennessee teaches — and to whom

Tennessee already requires 1 semester of personal finance for a high school diploma, a rule in force since the graduating class of 2013. That covers students still in the system. It does nothing for the adults already out of it — which, in Union County, is most of the people reading this.

LearnLife organises this the way the decisions actually arrive: Legal literacy — leases, contracts, employment rights and what a signature actually commits you to; Money — budgeting, credit, debt and taxes — the mechanics nobody is formally taught; Emotional regulation — the self-management that decides whether the other skills ever get used.

Where to start in Union County

Start with the money that moves every month

For most households in Union County, the fastest gain is not an investing strategy — it is seeing the recurring outflows clearly, knowing what a credit score actually responds to, and understanding which line items on a payslip are negotiable.

Questions people ask about Union County

Do high school students in Union County, Tennessee have to take a personal finance class?

Yes. Tennessee requires 1 semester to graduate, in force since the class of 2013.

How many adults in Union County, Tennessee have a college degree?

14.5% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher, based on the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey. The remaining 85.5% are managing their finances without one.

What is the median household income in Union County, Tennessee?

$61,858, per the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey.

Where can adults in Union County, Tennessee learn personal finance?

Graduation requirements only ever reach people still in school. For adults, LearnLife covers the same ground on demand — money, legal literacy and the self-management that decides whether either gets used.

Start with whichever one is costing you money right now.

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Nearby in Tennessee

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Population and demographic figures: U.S. Census Bureau — 2024 Gazetteer, Vintage 2024 Population Estimates, and the American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates. Graduation-requirement status: NGPF Live U.S. Dashboard, read 2026-09-14. Figures marked as unavailable are suppressed by the Census Bureau for small populations.