Tennessee's 25 largest cities (Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga: live in, shop, statistics)

[JMT]

city ... 2009 pop ... 2000 pop

1. Memphis... 676,640 ... 650,100
2. Nashville... 605,473 ... 545,524
3. Knoxville... 185,100 ... 173,890
4. Chattanooga ... 171,349 ... 155,554
5. Clarksville ... 124,565 ... 103,455
6. Murfreesboro ... 105,209 ... 68,816
7. Jackson... 63,732 ... 59,643
8. Johnson City... 63,141 ... 55,469
9. Franklin... 60,629 ... 41,842
10. Hendersonville... 48,332 ... 40,620
11. Bartlett... 48,070 ... 40,543
12. Kingsport... 44,758 ... 44,905
13. Germantown ... 41,102 ... 37,348
14. Cleveland ... 40,261 ... 37,192
15. Smyrna... 39,724 ... 25,569
16. Collierville ... 39,646 ... 31,872
17. Brentwood ... 37,159 ... 23,445
18. Columbia... 35,248 ... 33,055
19. La Vergne ... 30,862 ... 18,687
20. Gallatin ... 30,504 ... 23,230
21. Cookeville ... 29,880 ... 23,923
22. Morristown ... 28,054 ... 24,965
23. Oak Ridge ... 27,751 ... 27,387
24. Spring Hill ... 27,369 ... 7,715
25. Maryville... 27,258 ... 23,120

[LauraC]

That's a big drop off between Nashville and Knoxville.

[VolDude]

Chattanooga could very well surpass Knoxville by 2020.

That's probably a bit ambitious, but it seems as if Chatt desires more growth than Knoxville through attracting companies, for better or for worse.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by JMT

city ... 2009 pop ... 2000 pop

1. Memphis... 676,640 ... 650,100
2. Nashville... 605,473 ... 545,524
3. Knoxville... 185,100 ... 173,890
4. Chattanooga ... 171,349 ... 155,554
5. Clarksville ... 124,565 ... 103,455
6. Murfreesboro ... 105,209 ... 68,816
7. Jackson... 63,732 ... 59,643
8. Johnson City... 63,141 ... 55,469
9. Franklin... 60,629 ... 41,842
10. Hendersonville... 48,332 ... 40,620
11. Bartlett... 48,070 ... 40,543
12. Kingsport... 44,758 ... 44,905
13. Germantown ... 41,102 ... 37,348
14. Cleveland ... 40,261 ... 37,192
15. Smyrna... 39,724 ... 25,569
16. Collierville ... 39,646 ... 31,872
17. Brentwood ... 37,159 ... 23,445
18. Columbia... 35,248 ... 33,055
19. La Vergne ... 30,862 ... 18,687
20. Gallatin ... 30,504 ... 23,230
21. Cookeville ... 29,880 ... 23,923
22. Morristown ... 28,054 ... 24,965
23. Oak Ridge ... 27,751 ... 27,387
24. Spring Hill ... 27,369 ... 7,715
25. Maryville... 27,258 ... 23,120

i think the germantown number is incorrect. germantown is smaller in population than collierville. i believe both paid for certified recounts w/in the last 2 or 3 years, and collierville was 42 thousand +, and germantown had lost city proper population of 37 to 50 residents. too, barlett paid for a certified recount in 2007 or 2008. it is approximately 51 thousand +.

[BRH]

I think looking at the population of the whole metro area of each of the large cities is a much better judgement of growth. Sure, some cities are slowing down or losing population, but often these people are not leaving the area, but simply moving to the suburbs which are considered another town. These people still shop, dine, and go out to the attractions in the large central city, even if they don't live in the city "proper". Also, some cities (like Memphis) have city limits that extend much farther out into suburban areas than many cities, so this also skews the population numbers.

Anyway, that's why I think the numbers and growth statistics for the whole metro regions are much better indicators of the areas than just "city limits" numbers. (And I can tell you as an East Tennessee resident who works in Knoxville, the area is definitely growing and NOT slowing down at all. It's just that most of Knoxville's growth is suburban in areas like Farragut, Maryville, Sevier County, and Loudon County, which all surround Knoxville.) If you take the metro into account and not just the city proper, Knoxville is well ahead of Chatt. and growing at a faster rate. It's just that Knox. is very spread out and a large number of people live 20 or 30 miles out and commute to work and shop, like myself.

It would be interesting to see the MSA (metro) population numbers for the the four main areas of TN in the latest census.

[BRH]

Just checking online and looking at the 2009 census estimates for MSA metro numbers shows;

Nashville- 1,495,419
Memphis- 1,230,253
Knoxville- 785,490
Chattanooga- 510,388
Tri-Cities- 503,010


I really think in this day and age, as most people commute daily, that these metro numbers are really more accurate than simply looking at the city "proper" numbers.

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by BRH

Just checking online and looking at the 2009 census estimates for MSA metro numbers shows;

Nashville- 1,495,419
Memphis- 1,230,253
Knoxville- 785,490
Chattanooga- 510,388
Tri-Cities- 503,010


I really think in this day and age, as most people commute daily, that these metro numbers are really more accurate than simply looking at the city "proper" numbers.

I'm not sure where you got those numbers but they are off.

According to census.gov Population Estimates (http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/metro.html - broken link)
2009 Population and (Number added since 2000)

Nashville - 1,582,264 (270,475)
Memphis - 1,304,926 (99,730)
Knoxville - 699,247 (83,170)
Chattanooga - 524,303 (47,801)
Tri-Cities - They are split into 2 MSAs (Johnson City - 197,381 (15,774) and Kingsport/Bristol - 305,629 (7,143) )
Clarksville - 268,546 (36,501)

[jabogitlu]

It's interesting that Kingsport was the only city to lose residents, although Oak Ridge barely grew.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by BRH

Just checking online and looking at the 2009 census estimates for MSA metro numbers shows;

Nashville- 1,495,419
Memphis- 1,230,253
Knoxville- 785,490
Chattanooga- 510,388
Tri-Cities- 503,010


I really think in this day and age, as most people commute daily, that these metro numbers are really more accurate than simply looking at the city "proper" numbers.

the numbers you have listed above are outdated, as of march 23, 2010. the new latest estimate numbers are from july 1, 2009.

[luttrbp]

One thing that a lot of people are forgetting about Knoxville is that Knox County has an overall population of 425,000+ and growing rapidly, which includes the city. It is a very bustling city/county as a whole and should be considered when talking about population. The 183,000 population is a very misleading stat about Knoxville, its just not an accurate reflection of what Knoxville is really like, there is no danger of these other TN towns surpassing it. It is a very similar situation to why Atlanta has a city population of 400,000 but a metro population of 3 million....constricted city limits. Knoxville/Knox Co are in dire need of consolidating governments to form one entity like Nashville/Davidson Co. did.