Memphis sales tax rate (TN)

9.75% in Memphis — high. It ranks 8 of 94 covered metros, +1.8 pts against the 7.95% median. On $26,000 of taxable household spending that is $2,535 a year, $468 above it.

Local government sets 2.75% of the total, 28% of the bill; the state takes 7%. 3 layers stack: Tennessee state 7%, Shelby County 2.25%, City of Memphis 0.5%. The Shelby County increment at 2.25% is the largest local piece — 82% of everything local, worth $585 a year on its own.

1 of 4 covered Tennessee metros, +0.5 pts from the 9.25% state median. The in-state spread runs 9.25% in Chattanooga to 9.75% in Memphis — 0.5 points wide. Buying a $35,000 vehicle in Chattanooga instead of Memphis saves $175, though Tennessee normally taxes vehicles where they are registered.

No other covered metro sits within 0.05 points of 9.75%. Memphis is an outlier in the national distribution, which usually means a district measure the surrounding region never adopted.

Scale: 618,639 residents, roughly 247,456 households. At $26,000 of taxable spend each, the 2.75% local share pulls about $176,931,040 a year from residents alone — before any visitor or business spending, which in a metro this size is where the rest comes from.

Memphis added a half-cent city increment in 2023 for public safety pay, taking it to Tennessee's statutory maximum.

Rates move when a district measure passes or a local option expires. Confirm the current figure with the Tennessee Department of Revenue before filing or quoting it to a customer.