Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 40,001, settled in 1825. Public schools that outperform most of Tennessee.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Germantown grades B+ overall, 20th among Tennessee's 175 graded towns. The median household earns $150K. Its schools rank ahead of 95% of Tennessee towns and residents are healthier than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $481K for a typical one and 7.2 times the Memphis metro’s $66K median household income. 72% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Germantown, above both Tennessee’s towns (23%) and U.S. towns (29%). Only 8 of Tennessee’s 232 towns score higher on civic life. Germantown has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Germantown Baptist Church (Additional Documentation) and Germantown Redoubt.
Where Germantown beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Riverdale Elementary School | PK–8 | 1,184 |
| Forest Hill Elementary School | PK–5 | 698 |
| Dogwood Elementary School | PK–5 | 663 |
| Widest gap | Germantown | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.1% | 16.2% |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Germantown is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 9%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 245 in 1850, 41,333 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1871 and 4 maps from 1965 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Germantown. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi Ancient siteSS Sultana
11 mi Stadium & arenaSimmons Bank Liberty Stadium
16 mi MuseumNational Civil Rights Museum
16 mi Stadium & arenaFedExForum
12 mi Stadium & arenaMid-South Coliseum
16 mi MuseumBlues Hall of FameSS Sultana: Template:Thomas W. Bankes, Public domain · Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · National Civil Rights Museum: Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0 · FedExForum: Marco Espino-Ovalle, Public domain · Mid-South Coliseum: bcbuckner, CC BY 2.0 · Blues Hall of Fame: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Germantown, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Germantown.
Germantown has schools in the top 5% of Tennessee, has milder winter nights than almost anywhere else in Tennessee and fares better on crime within Tennessee than nationally.
13 miles of trail in 19 parks and preserves. Shelby Farms Park, at 145 acres with 1.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Germantown’s trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Germantown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.4% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Johnson Road Park | 1.9 mi | 58 |
| 2. Shelby Farms Park | 1.7 mi | 145 |
| 3. Houston Levee Park | 0.7 mi | 37 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A+ ranks #9 of the 176 Tennessee towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $481K.
Its public schools are run by the Germantown school district. Three of its 15 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 1,184 | A |
| Houston High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,806 | B+ |
| Dogwood Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 663 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Tennessee is food insecurity: 6.1% of its 31,357 adults worry about having enough food, against 16.2% statewide. Against the 2,742 U.S. towns with household incomes like Germantown’s, it is healthier than 77%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
10% of Germantown adults report frequent physical distress. Only 2 of the 176 Tennessee towns we compare have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Germantown. 13% of Germantown adults report frequent mental distress.
| Germantown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 20% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.8% | 19% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 16% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | Germantown | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.1% | 16.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.1% | 14.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.9% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 7.2 years of the Memphis metro’s $66K median household income, the typical home (about $481K) costs more against local pay than in 94% of Tennessee towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $4,786, against $1,442 across Tennessee, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median rent in Germantown is $1,816 a month. The typical Germantown home is worth about $481,000, down 1.1% in a year, 45% above the Tennessee typical home. 87% of households own their home in Germantown.
| Germantown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,816 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 87% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 31.8°, the #2 highest of 504 Tennessee places with climate records; July afternoons average 91°.
Among 177 Tennessee towns, just 3 have a higher July high than Germantown. Germantown has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain.
| Germantown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 91°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 32°F | 29°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Germantown for work: only 10% work in town. Jobs based in Germantown grew to 14,605 in 2023, 2,508 more than in 2013. Among 177 Tennessee towns, just 5 have a higher median household income than Germantown.
| Germantown | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $150,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 21% | 9.5% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.7% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 52 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Germantown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 17.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 70% of Tennessee’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 50 reported in 2025, 1.3 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
13 within 15 miles of the center of Germantown
About 3 of every 100 Germantown residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Tennessee.
11 notable people were born in Germantown.
City in Tennessee, United States
Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,333 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 40,128 in 2024, making it the 23rd-most populous city in Tennessee. It was given a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence in 2019. Germantown is an eastern suburb of Memphis. Germantown was founded in 1841 by mostly German emigrants. The town hosts festivals year-round to celebrate their history and German culture. In the city center is the "Old Germantown" neighborhood, anchored by a railroad depot (a 1948 reproduction of the 1868 original) and railroad tracks that recall the community's earliest days of development as an outpost al…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Germantown.
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germantown | #20 | B+ | D | B− | A+ | A |
| Memphis | #170 | D− | C+ | D− | D | D |
| Collierville | #22 | B+ | D | B− | A+ | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Germantown grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #20 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades A for health, B− for safety and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
11 notable people were born here, including Olivia Holt and Seth Rider.
