Metro area · Tennessee

Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area

Memphis, TN-MS-AR is a metropolitan area of 9 counties in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, home to 1,341,412 residents. Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area has a quality-of-life score of 15 out of 100 (very low), ranking #784 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Tennessee it ranks #22 of 27. It ranks best on distance to an airport (low), new business applications (high) and average weekly wage (high). It ranks worst on violent crime rate (high), property crime rate (high) and homicide rate (high).

15Very low
Quality-of-life score
#784 of 925 metro and micro areas
Tennessee
#22 of 27 in TN
Population
1,341,412 (2025)
Land area
4,972 mi²
Density
269.8 /mi²
CBSA code
32820

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 68 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety1#916/924
  • Economy41#543/925
  • Housing22#718/925
  • Health19#754/925
  • Healthcare40#558/923
  • Environment1#909/917
  • Education60#374/925
  • Infrastructure42#541/925
  • Community19#749/925
  • Leisure & amenities32#625/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Metro and micro areas like Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Memphis, TN-MS-AR

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Shelby CountyCentral county24910,226
  2. DeSoto CountyCentral county47197,918
  3. Crittenden CountyCentral county1046,210
  4. Tipton CountyOutlying county2562,287
  5. Fayette CountyOutlying county2945,071
  6. Marshall CountyOutlying county034,654
  7. Tate CountyOutlying county928,725
  8. Tunica CountyOutlying county08,819
  9. Benton CountyOutlying county57,502

States

The share of the area's residents living in each state.

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. MemphisPrincipal city618,980

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Memphis618,980
  2. Bartlett56,876
  3. Southaven56,226
  4. Collierville51,515
  5. Olive Branch47,019
  6. Germantown40,673
  7. Horn Lake26,647
  8. West Memphis23,929
  9. Hernando17,949
  10. Arlington15,205
  11. Lakeland14,192
  12. Marion13,623
  13. Millington11,289
  14. Atoka10,385
  15. Oakland9,979
  16. Covington8,587
  17. Senatobia8,380
  18. Holly Springs6,704
  19. Munford6,588
  20. Somerville3,466
  21. Bridgetown3,195
  22. Brighton2,889
  23. Piperton2,569
  24. Tunica Resorts2,281

Other metro and micro areas in Tennessee

Areas based in Tennessee, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M32820