Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Memphis has 609,647 people, so its D− is an average across neighborhoods that differ more from each other than most towns do. It ranks 170th of 175 graded places in Tennessee. It is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. What weighs on its grade: its crime rate is higher than 100% of U.S. towns, with 11,219 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and its schools rank behind 94% of the state's. 72% of working residents work locally in Memphis, where Tennessee’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Beale Street Historic District and Graceland. No town among the 134 in Tennessee we compare has a higher violent crime rate than Memphis.
Where Memphis beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Beale Street Historic District| College | Students |
|---|---|
| University of Memphis | 16,642 |
| Southwest Tennessee Community College | 4,503 |
| The University of Tennessee Health Science Center | 2,847 |
Beale Street Historic District is one of 4 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 185 National Register listings are more than in any other Tennessee town with a listing.
Census counts: 3,360 in 1840, 633,104 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1830 and 7 maps from 1916 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Tennessee), ordered by how far Memphis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Memphis. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi Ancient siteSS Sultana
in town Stadium & arenaSimmons Bank Liberty Stadium
in town MuseumNational Civil Rights Museum
in town Stadium & arenaFedExForum
in town MuseumBlues Hall of Fame
in town Stadium & arenaMid-South ColiseumSS 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 · Blues Hall of Fame: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mid-South Coliseum: bcbuckner, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Memphis, 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 Memphis.
Memphis has milder winter nights than almost anywhere else in Tennessee and draws workers from Bartlett and beyond, but it reports violent crime at 4 times the Tennessee rate.
Violent crime runs at 18.5 per 1,000 residents, 4 times the Tennessee rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 49.7 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the Tennessee rate, most of it theft.
The property crime rate in Memphis is 49.7 per 1,000 residents. Memphis reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 100% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D, Lakeland highest at A+.
Its public schools are run by the Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Three of its 253 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowden Elementary/MiddleLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 1,384 | C |
| Cordova High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,251 | C− |
| Richland ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 907 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TN on state tests and graduation
174 miles of trail in 158 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Shelby Farms Park, 4,606 acres with 38.4 miles of trail. Memphis’ trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Memphis | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.5% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shelby Farms Park | 38.4 mi | 4,606 |
| 2. Overton Park | 5.9 mi | 348 |
| 3. Audubon Park | 5 mi | 331 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
379,595 jobs are based in Memphis, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
23% of residents live below the poverty line in Memphis. The top destinations are Olive Branch (3%), Collierville (3%) and Bartlett (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.
| Memphis | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 23% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $61,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.2% | 9.6% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Tennessee it is less healthy than 71% of the 176 graded towns: much of Tennessee scores lower on these measures.
30% of Memphis adults worry about having enough food. Memphis beats the Tennessee average on 3 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 18% of Memphis adults have diabetes.
| Memphis | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 16% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 12% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 38% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 41% | 35% |
| What stands out | Memphis | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.7% | 8.2% |
| Fewer adults with depression | 25.2% | 28.4% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 17.4% | 9.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.3 years of the Memphis metro’s $66K median household income, the typical home (about $152K) costs less against local pay than in any other Tennessee town; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Bartlett is next at $318K.
The typical Memphis home is worth about $152,000, down 2.8% in a year, 54% below the Tennessee typical home. Among 177 Tennessee towns, just 7 have a lower share of households owning their home than Memphis.
| Memphis | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 45% | 66% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 56% | 45% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,181 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
345 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 45 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 345 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Memphis.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 32.4°, the highest of 504 Tennessee places with climate records; July afternoons average 91°. The Memphis Intl Ap weather station records that about 72 days a year reach 90°, the #2 highest of 504 Tennessee places with climate records. The Memphis Intl Ap weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 244 days, the highest of 504 Tennessee places with climate records.
Memphis has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. No town among the 177 in Tennessee we compare has a higher January low than Memphis. About 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Memphis | 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
Only 44.9% of households own their home, against 66.9% across Tennessee.
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Tennessee average. Memphis has lost 3% of its people since 2020, down to 609,647 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across Tennessee.
| Memphis | Tennessee towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 34.2 years | 40 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 23% | 29% |
52.6% women, 47.4% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across Tennessee, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.8, men 32.7.
| Memphis | TN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.1% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.1% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.5% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.1% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.1% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.4% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.8% | 10% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.4% | 31.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.4% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.7% | 19.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.3% | 11.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
15 within 15 miles of the center of Memphis
About 5 of every 100 Memphis residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Tennessee.
14 colleges in town.
185 places in Memphis on the National Register of Historic Places.
30 notable people were born in Memphis.
City in Tennessee, United States
Memphis (, MEM-fis) is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Tennessee, the fifth-most populous in the Southeast, and the 29th-most populous in the US. While being the most populous single municipality on the Mississippi River, Memphis anchors the third largest metropolitan area by population behind only the Twin Cities and St. Louis. Metropolitan Memphis includes parts of Arkansas and Mississippi, the 45th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. with 1.34 million residents. European exploration of the area began with Spani…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Memphis.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D−; Bartlett (B) is closest. Lakeland next door grades higher for schools (A+ to Memphis’s D) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | TN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | #170 | D− | C+ | D− | D | D |
| Germantown | #20 | B+ | D | B− | A+ | A |
| Bartlett | #40 | B | C− | C+ | A | B |
| Lakeland | #11 | A− | D | — | A+ | A |
Lakeland reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Memphis with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Memphis grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #170 of 175 in Tennessee. It grades D for health, D− for safety and D for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Memphis reports more crime per resident than 100% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade: 11,219 violent and 30,133 property crimes in 2025.
That is 2.3 years of the area's median household income ($66,401 across the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
30 notable people were born here, including Morgan Freeman and Aretha Franklin.
