McMinn County, Tennessee

McMinn County is a county in Tennessee, United States, about 50 miles southwest of Knoxville and
50 miles northeast of Chattanooga. It had a population of 53,276 at the 2020 census, an estimated
57,404 by 2025, and covers 432 square miles (1,120 km2) centred near 35°25′N 84°37′W.

Athens is the county seat; its postal code is 37303. The county holds 4 cities, 2 incorporated
towns and 2 census-designated places, plus 8 unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern
Time. Its FIPS code is 47107.

Towns & Villages in McMinn County

McMinn County has 14 named places on record: 6 incorporated cities and towns, 2 census-designated
places (CDPs), and 8 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. Tennessee
does not use civil townships, so this table has no township column.

Two places on this list straddle county lines. Sweetwater’s population figure above is
citywide — most of the city and its downtown core sit in neighboring Monroe County, with
only a northern edge reaching into McMinn. Delano runs the same way: it is chiefly an
unincorporated community in Polk County, with a small portion crossing into McMinn’s southeast
corner, so its own population is not counted here.

ZIP Codes

• 37303 — Athens (the county’s main post office)
• 37371 — Athens/Riceville (a shared rural-route ZIP)
• 37331 — Etowah
• 37874 — Sweetwater
• 37329 — Englewood
• 37826 — Niota
• 37309 — Calhoun
• 37325 — Delano (administered from Polk County)

Claxton, Conasauga, Goodsprings, Liberty Hill, Mount Verd, Reagan, Spring Creek and Williamsburg
have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated town’s
code.

Geography

McMinn County sits in Tennessee’s Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachians, a series of
parallel forested ridges separated by narrow farming valleys. Of its 432 square miles, 430 are
land and 2.1 are water, about 0.5 percent — the county has no large natural lake, and most
of its surface water is the Hiwassee River, which forms part of the southern boundary with Bradley
County. The Hiwassee flows west out of the mountains toward its confluence with the Tennessee
River a few miles beyond the county line.

Roane County lies to the north, Loudon County to the northeast, Monroe County to the east, Polk
County to the southeast, Bradley County to the southwest, and Meigs County to the west. Roane County, Loudon County, Monroe County, Polk County, Bradley County and Meigs County all border McMinn directly.

Demographics

McMinn County had a population of 53,276 at the 2020 census, and the latest Census Bureau
estimate puts the county near 57,404 residents by 2025. Athens and Sweetwater are the two largest
communities, together holding well over a third of the county’s population. Median household
income runs about $61,470 (2024 vintage, Data USA), well below Tennessee’s statewide figure of
$67,631 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 124 people per square mile of land,
moderate for a rural East Tennessee county astride an interstate corridor.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 6,277 people, followed by retail
trade at 3,071 and health care and social assistance at 2,635. Waupaca Foundry runs a large
automotive and farm-equipment casting plant in Etowah, on the site of the town’s old
Louisville & Nashville Railroad shops. Athens is home to Tennessee Wesleyan University,
founded in 1857, and the McMinn County Higher Education Center. Englewood’s economy grew up
around textile mills; the last major operation, Allied Hosiery, closed in 2008, and the town now
runs the Englewood Textile Museum on Main Street to preserve that history. The county’s
biggest annual event is Athens’s Vintage Days heritage festival each October, centred on the
downtown historic district.

History

McMinn County was organised in 1819, formed from land ceded by the Cherokee under the 1819
Calhoun Treaty, and named for Joseph McMinn, a Revolutionary War militia commander and Tennessee
governor. Athens was laid out and chosen as the county seat in 1822. The town of Calhoun, on the
Hiwassee River, is named for John C. Calhoun, who negotiated that treaty.

The county voted against secession in 1861 even as it supplied soldiers to both Union and
Confederate armies during the Civil War. In 1920, state representative Harry T. Burn, a McMinn
County native, cast the deciding vote in the Tennessee legislature ratifying the Nineteenth
Amendment and granting American women the right to vote. In August 1946, World War II veterans in
Athens staged an armed confrontation with the county’s political machine, besieging the jail
to stop election fraud — an episode remembered as the Battle of Athens, and one of the only
armed uprisings against a sitting local government in US history.

Getting There

Interstate 75 crosses the county’s western half, running past Calhoun and Riceville. US 11
runs through Niota, Athens and Sweetwater; US 411 crosses the county through Englewood and Etowah,
along with state routes 30, 39, 68 and 163.

• Knoxville — about 50 miles northeast
• Chattanooga — about 50 miles southwest
• Cleveland — about 20 miles south
• Sweetwater to Athens — about 15 miles northeast along US 11

McGhee Tyson Airport, near Knoxville and roughly 45 miles northeast of Athens, is the nearest
major commercial airport. Athens-McMinn County Airport, on the north side of Athens, handles
general aviation traffic. McMinn County has no active Amtrak service; the nearest station is in
Chattanooga.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is McMinn County located?
It sits in Tennessee’s Ridge and Valley province, about halfway between Knoxville and
Chattanooga, bordered by Roane, Loudon, Monroe, Polk, Bradley and Meigs counties.

What is the population of McMinn County?
53,276 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 57,404.

How big is McMinn County?
432 square miles (1,120 km2), of which 430 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of McMinn County?
Athens, chosen as county seat in 1822, is the largest city and seat of government.

How many towns and cities are in McMinn County?
Six incorporated places — Athens, Sweetwater (partly), Etowah, Englewood, Niota and Calhoun
— plus two census-designated places, Riceville and Delano (partly), and eight unincorporated
communities: Claxton, Conasauga, Goodsprings, Liberty Hill, Mount Verd, Reagan, Spring Creek and
Williamsburg.

What ZIP codes does McMinn County use?
37303 and 37371 for Athens and Riceville; 37331 for Etowah; 37874 for Sweetwater; 37329 for
Englewood; 37826 for Niota; and 37309 for Calhoun.

What is McMinn County known for?
The 1946 Battle of Athens, when WWII veterans overturned a corrupt county government by force, and
Harry T. Burn’s 1920 deciding vote for national women’s suffrage.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Tennessee.