How free is Chattanooga?
According to the Beacon Center of Tennessee, the city is higher on a freedom index than the state’s other three largest cities but still 22nd out of the state’s 30 most populous cities.
Chattanooga also moved up one notch on the list, which evaluates cities in four specific areas using metrics from more than 70 different policies, from the organization’s ranking in 2020.
In the four specific areas, where 1 is best and 30 is worst, the city ranked first in the state in individual liberty, 10th in private property, 24th in cost of government and 26th in free enterprise.
Justin Owen, chief executive officer of the Beacon Center, an independent, nonprofit organization that provides free market solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee, said the freedom index gives citizens information with which they can “hold their city officials accountable.”