Welcome to Oak Ridge ...
The city of Oak Ridge is primarily located in Anderson County<1>. A portion of Oak Ridge extends into Roane County.
The location of Oak Ridge has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>
Oak Ridge was established in 1942.
When the people of Oak Ridge refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Oak Ridger<3>
A typical abbreviation for Oak Ridge: Oak Rdg. (or less commonly used: Oak Rdge. or Oak Ridg.)
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Oak Ridge has a population of 29,170 people<4> (see below for details).
The community of Oak Ridge is 910 feet [277 m] above sea level.<5>.
Time Zone: Oak Ridge lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Note: If you travel west from Oak Ridge (for example, toward Rogers), you will leave Eastern Time and cross into the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT).
Oak Ridge is within the boundaries of the (865) area code.
Websites for Oak Ridge ...
Official Website: www.ci.oak-ridge.tn.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.orcc.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Oak Ridge had an population of 29,170 people. This is a decrease of 0.55% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 6.51% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Oak Ridge had a population of 29,330 people (which is 39.04% of the total population of Anderson County). This makes Oak Ridge the county's most populous community.
The population of Oak Ridge represents 0.46% of the population of Tennessee (which has 6,346,105 people), making it the state's 22nd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 29,330 people, the population of Oak Ridge increased 7.09% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 27,387 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Oak Ridge.
Communities Also Named Oak Ridge ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 72 communities that are also named Oak Ridge - they are located in Alabama (4), Arizona, Arkansas, Florida (2), Georgia (4), Illinois (2), Indiana, Kansas (2), Kentucky (4), Louisiana (4), Maine, Maryland (3), Michigan, Mississippi (2), Missouri (6), New Jersey (2), New York, North Carolina (4), Ohio (3), Oklahoma, Pennsylvania (4), South Carolina (3), Texas (8), Virginia (6) and West Virginia (2).
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Oak Ridge.
Communities near Oak Ridge ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Oak Ridge.
- Fraterville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fraterville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fraterville
- Fraterville is located in Anderson County
- Estimated population in 2014: 70,612 people
- Farragut
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farragut have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farragut
- Farragut is located in Knox County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,045 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farragut <6>
- Spring Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Spring Hill is located in Anderson County
- Estimated population in 2014: 16,752 people
- McMullens
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - College Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for College Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Grove
- College Grove is located in Roane County
- Estimated population in 2014: 10,729 people
- Clinton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clinton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Clinton is located in Anderson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,119 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clinton <6>
- Lenoir City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoir City
- Lenoir City is located in Loudon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,323 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lenoir City <6>
- Aldenwood Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aldenwood Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldenwood Park
- Aldenwood Park is located in Knox County
- Estimated population in 2014: 8,753 people
- Harriman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harriman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harriman
- Harriman is located in Morgan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,182 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harriman <6>
- Loudon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loudon
- Loudon is located in Loudon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,009 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loudon <6>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Oak Ridge. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Oak Ridge.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Oak Ridge. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Oak Ridge.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Ridge. Our list includes 5 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Oak Ridge.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Oak Ridge ...
Looking for more information about Oak Ridge? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Oak Ridge, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Oak Ridge.
Adding Oak Ridge to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Oak Ridge in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Oak Ridge was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Oak Ridge post office opened in 1943.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Oak Ridge.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Oak Ridge: www.ci.oak-ridge.tn.us/
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Tennessee's counties, including Anderson, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Oak Ridge refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Oak Ridge may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <4> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Oak Ridge. |
| <5> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Oak Ridge - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |