Tennessee cities and towns

This directory lists every place the US Census Bureau tabulates in Tennessee, ranked from the largest to the smallest by population. Incorporated cities, towns and villages appear alongside census-designated places (CDPs) — unincorporated communities that have no local government of their own but are counted separately because they have a recognised name and settled population. The suffix in each name ("city", "town", "village", "CDP") is the Census legal/statistical description, which is why you will see entries such as "Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance)".

The largest place in Tennessee is Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance) with 684,298 residents, and the 504 places on this page hold 4,495,827 people between them. Median household income across the listed places runs from $12,109 to $250,001, and median home values range from $9,999 to $2,000,001 — a spread that shows how much local housing markets diverge inside a single state.

Every figure comes from the American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates, which average survey responses over sixty months. That averaging is what makes small towns measurable at all, but it also means the numbers describe the period as a whole rather than today. Blank cells are estimates the Census suppressed because the local sample was too small to publish reliably. Select any place to open its full profile with affordability ratios, poverty and homeownership rates, and links to nearby communities of similar size.

Tennessee is a city-weighted state without being a one-city state: 15 places above 50,000 residents hold 57% of the 4,495,827 people counted here, spread across several metros rather than one. Comparisons work best inside that tier — the 195 sub-thousand places on this list live in a different economy. The median row holds just 1,576 residents. At that scale margins of error widen sharply, and a single large household or seasonal population can shift a median.

Buying is a little easier here than nationally: Tennessee's median place shows $178,300 in home value on $56,078 of income, a ratio of 3.2 against 3.9 across the country. Rent stays modest against earnings — $829 a month, roughly 18% of median household income over a year.

The internal range is wide but not exceptional: $93,264 at the ninetieth percentile against $38,295 at the tenth, a 2.44× gap. At the edges, Forest Hills city tops the list at $250,001 and Coker Creek CDP anchors the bottom at $12,109.

About one row in 13 is incomplete — 39 of 504 places have a suppressed estimate, almost all of them at the small end. Five-year estimates average responses over sixty months, so what is published is a stable baseline rather than a reading of this month's market.

How many places does Tennessee have? 504 appear in the current federal tabulation, counting incorporated cities, towns and villages together with census-designated places — unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. The legal suffix in each name is the Census description, which is how two communities can share a name.

Which Tennessee row should I compare mine against? Pick places within roughly the same population band. In a state this spread out, size drives the housing and income figures more than region does.

How current is this? Every figure comes from the American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year release published by the US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates. It reflects the full survey window rather than a single date, and it is the most recent vintage available for places this small.