Living in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Those two city personas aren’t mutually exclusive, and Chattanooga proves it. With its relatively affordable cost of living and southern staples like the annual Tennessee Whiskey Festival, it might seem like just another small southern city. But with startups and tech companies moving in by the month, it’s starting to feel less like the Tennessee/Georgia border and more like a mini Silicon Valley. It was even the first city in the U.S. to roll out a citywide gigabit network.

Chattanooga was already on the rise before COVID, but since March 2020, growth has exploded. That boom has created both cultural and structural challenges for locals. But the city was basically built for this moment: it’s in a low-tax southern state, it’s a college town, it’s small enough to give big-city transplants breathing room, and crucially, it has that blazing-fast internet. All of it combined into a perfect storm that’s drawn plenty of new residents from the Northeast and Northwest.

For a relatively small city, Chattanooga packs in a ton to do—and offers a rare blend of urban cool and outdoor adventure. Downtown is filled with indie boutiques, record stores, and cozy cafes, making it easy to spend an afternoon just wandering. The food scene is just as lively as the tech scene, with everything from upscale southern fusion (try Easy Bistro or Alleia) to standout international fare and weekend farmers markets.

But what really sets Chattanooga apart is how seamlessly the outdoors fits into daily life. You’ve got the Tennessee Riverwalk snaking through the city for biking and jogging, paddleboarding access right in town, and nearby spots like Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, and Stringer’s Ridge offering hiking, climbing, and panoramic views. For a deeper escape, head to Lula Lake Land Trust or Cloudland Canyon for waterfalls, forest trails, and serious Instagrammable moments.

Want to get a feel for what locals are up to? Check out Chattanooga’s calendar of events, which includes everything from live music and street festivals to night markets and riverfront yoga.

We always recommend staying in a VRBO if you’re visiting; it's a great way to experience the rhythm of local neighborhoods instead of the hotel bubble. And if you're planning a trip, you can find discounted travel fares through our Expedia partnership.

Chattanooga’s work scene has seen a serious glow-up in the past decade, with tech and healthcare leading the charge. The city has earned a reputation as a smaller, more affordable alternative to coastal tech hubs like San Francisco and New York, and that appeal has only grown in a post-COVID world. Remote workers, startups, and digital-first companies have been flocking to Chattanooga for the lifestyle, the business climate, and, of course, the internet: Chattanooga was the first city in the country to roll out a citywide gigabit network, and that infrastructure gave it a huge head start.

Today, the city is home to a growing number of tech firms and innovation spaces. The Enterprise Center helps manage Chattanooga’s Innovation District and connects entrepreneurs with resources and community. The INCubator at the Hamilton County Business Development Center, one of the largest incubators in the country, hosts over 50 startups in a renovated 100,000-square-foot facility. Companies like Bellhops, a tech-enabled moving platform, and Variable, a color samples/library business, were both born here and continue to scale.

Healthcare has long been a major economic driver in Chattanooga. The city is home to top medical facilities, including CHI Memorial Hospital, Erlanger Health System, and Parkridge Health System. These not only serve the region but also provide thousands of stable, high-quality jobs across clinical care, research, and administration.

Other major employers in the area include Volkswagen, which operates its only U.S. assembly plant just outside the city in nearby Enterprise South; BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, which has its headquarters in Chattanooga; and Unum, a Fortune 500 insurance provider that remains one of the area’s top corporate employers.

There’s also a solid education and nonprofit workforce, anchored by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and supported by a network of foundations, local initiatives, and workforce development programs focused on equity and innovation.

All of this adds up to a Chattanooga that isn’t just livable, it’s workable. Whether you’re a remote employee, a startup founder, a healthcare professional, or looking for a new location for your business, Chattanooga is likely to fit the bill.