Metro area · Tennessee

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN is a metropolitan area of 14 counties in Tennessee, home to 2,197,416 residents. Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area has a quality-of-life score of 57 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #399 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Tennessee it ranks #1 of 27. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), average weekly wage (high) and income adjusted for local prices (high). It ranks worst on violent crime rate (high), average commute time (high) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

57Moderate
Quality-of-life score
#399 of 925 metro and micro areas
Tennessee
#1 of 27 in TN
Population
2,197,416 (2025)
Land area
6,302 mi²
Density
348.7 /mi²
CBSA code
34980

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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area

Scores by category

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

  • Safety18#761/924
  • Economy96#35/925
  • Housing27#672/925
  • Health56#405/925
  • Healthcare58#390/923
  • Environment22#712/917
  • Education85#142/925
  • Infrastructure72#261/925
  • Community34#611/925
  • Leisure & amenities81#180/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN

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. Davidson CountyCentral county52745,904
  2. Williamson CountyCentral county96272,061
  3. Sumner CountyCentral county61215,538
  4. Wilson CountyCentral county69175,033
  5. Rutherford CountyOutlying county53386,352
  6. Maury CountyOutlying county55118,131
  7. Robertson CountyOutlying county3480,175
  8. Dickson CountyOutlying county4558,662
  9. Cheatham CountyOutlying county4442,778
  10. Macon CountyOutlying county927,663
  11. Hickman CountyOutlying county1926,219
  12. Smith CountyOutlying county2520,981
  13. Cannon CountyOutlying county2215,296
  14. Trousdale CountyOutlying county1712,623

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. FranklinPrincipal city87,133
  2. MurfreesboroPrincipal city161,445
  3. Nashville-DavidsonPrincipal city690,130
  4. SmyrnaPrincipal city56,692

Largest cities and towns

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

  1. Nashville-Davidson690,130
  2. Murfreesboro161,445
  3. Franklin87,133
  4. Hendersonville63,091
  5. Smyrna56,692
  6. Spring Hill55,765
  7. Gallatin48,532
  8. Brentwood45,556
  9. Columbia45,441
  10. Lebanon44,788
  11. Mount Juliet42,073
  12. La Vergne40,243
  13. Springfield19,255
  14. Goodlettsville17,597
  15. Dickson16,424
  16. Nolensville15,074
  17. White House14,631
  18. Portland13,449
  19. Hartsville/Trousdale County11,957
  20. Fairview10,009
  21. Thompson's Station8,294
  22. Greenbrier6,971
  23. Green Hill6,866
  24. Millersville5,836

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.

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