Monterey, Tennessee.
Typical home $292,126 (+3.6% in a year). Cookeville, TN metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$895 (+140%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $10,079 +4%
- $282,047$292,126 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $71,281 +32%
- $220,845$292,126 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Monterey$1,533
- Tennessee$1,737
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 12 years.
Typical home values in Monterey, TN rose 3.6% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Monterey, Putnam County, Tennessee
Monterey is a town of 2,746 people in Putnam County. Half its households earn more than $45,922 a year and half less, against $58,912 across Putnam County. 59% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 41% are rented. Unemployment in Putnam County was 3.7% in August 2026, and the county had 0.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Putnam County work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Monterey is a small town in Putnam County with a young population for its size, and incomes that run below the county's. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and fewer adults here hold a four-year degree than in many places. Winters are cold, with some snow, summers are warm, and rain and melted snow add up to a good deal over the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with others in shops, manufacturing, and restaurants, hotels and entertainment. Among the largest workplaces in Monterey are Perdue Foods, a poultry processor, Lanmills, a warehousing business, and Signature Healthcare, a skilled nursing facility. Few people work from home, and the typical commute is a modest one.
Things to do. The countryside around Monterey is good for time on the water and on trails. Caney Fork and Roaring River are both rivers a short drive away. Burgess Falls, a waterfall, is a longer drive away, as is Cumberland Mountain State Park, a protected area.
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- 931households
- 10%of adults have a degree
- 21 mintypical commute
- 3%work from home
What people in Putnam County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Putnam County had 39,901 jobs in 2025, 0.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 43° and lows near 27°; warmest in July, with highs near 84° and lows near 67°. About 16 inches of snow and 64 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Monterey weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Monterey
- Perdue FoodsPoultry processing437
- LanmillsGeneral warehousing and storage96
- Signature HealthcareSkilled nursing facilities83
- Silver Angels - PutnamHome health care agencies33
- MontereyMail and parcel delivery21
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 5 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 670 people in all. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- LightningVery high
- TornadoesRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively high
- Ice stormsRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Monterey’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Putnam County and the Cookeville, TN metro.
Monterey home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Monterey$292,126
- Tennessee$330,844
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 3 Monterey listings — the market is cooling.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Monterey36.50%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Monterey80
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Monterey14
Zip codes with a Monterey address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Monterey — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.