Crossville · Upper Cumberland
Starting a business in Cumberland County.
Where to go, what it costs, and what is particular to Cumberland rather than true everywhere. The rules are Tennessee’s; the office, the hours and the number of licences are local.
Where you go
Cumberland County Clerk
Jule Bryson
1760 S Main Street, Crossville, TN 38555
Open: Mon to Fri, 8am to 5pm
What it costs in Cumberland
$30inside those city limits
$15 to the county clerk, and another $15 to the city if you are inside Crossville. Two licences, two offices, one business. Outside those limits it is just the county one.
The $15 is set by state law, so it is the same in every Tennessee county. You need it once you expect more than $3,000 a year.
Town by town
Crossville
Own city licence needed
The city states that any business inside city limits needs both a city and a county licence.
Crab Orchard
Call to check
We could not confirm from an official source whether Crab Orchard charges its own licence, and we would rather say so than guess.
Ordinance 7-8-25, adopted July 2025, makes it unlawful to begin operating a commercial business inside city limits without full board approval. Restaurants, cafes and diners are the only exception. This is separate from any licence and worth a call.
Pleasant Hill
Call to check
We could not confirm from an official source whether Pleasant Hill charges its own licence, and we would rather say so than guess.
The rest of it is the same everywhere
Choosing between a sole proprietorship and an LLC, registering with the Secretary of State, sales tax, and the order to do it all in are Tennessee-wide rather than Cumberland-specific. The full guide covers them, including why an LLC costs $300 rather than the hundred or so most people expect.
Read the full guideWe serve Cumberland County
The Biz Foundry is a non-profit in Cookeville and coaching is free across all fourteen Upper Cumberland counties, in person or over video. There is no office in Crossville; there is a person who will talk to you about Crossville.
Book a free session →Checked against official county and state sources on September 17, 2026. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.