Largest Cities in Tennessee: Ranked by Population

The largest city in Tennessee in our data is Nashville, TN, with an estimated 1,081,903 people, followed by Memphis, TN (1,066,967) and Knoxville, TN (586,048). This list ranks the top 50 places among the 112 Tennessee communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 50 in Tennessee?

How big are the largest cities in Tennessee?

Of the 112 places with pages, 8 have more than 100,000 residents, 21 have between 25,000 and 100,000, and 83 have fewer than 25,000. The median place has about 11,439 people. The ten largest places account for about 69% of the combined population of all pages, which shows how concentrated the state's population is across communities. Shelby County contributes 5 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 32 counties of Tennessee. Shelby County has 5 (Memphis, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland); Sumner County has 4 (Hendersonville, Gallatin, Portland, White House); Hamilton County has 3 (Chattanooga, East Ridge, Soddy-Daisy). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does Tennessee compare with the rest of the country?

The median Tennessee place with a page has about 11,439 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is smaller than the national typical place. Nashville, TN ranks 45th among all US places by estimated population in our data. The state has 427 communities in total, of which 112 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about Tennessee cities

• Which is the largest city in Tennessee? Nashville (1,081,903 people).
• How many Tennessee cities have more than 100,000 people? 8 in our data.
• How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 21.
• What is the typical size? About 11,439 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.