Largest and Most Notable Cities in Tennessee

Tennessee's cities are arranged along the state's three "grand divisions" — East, Middle, and West — each with a distinct identity rooted in geography, economy, and culture.

Memphis — 620,000 (metro: 1.4 million)
Tennessee's largest city by population and the anchor of the Mid-South region (encompassing parts of Mississippi and Arkansas). Memphis is the birthplace of the blues — Beale Street, Sun Studio (where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins all recorded), and the Stax Records museum tell the full story of American music's Memphis roots. The city is also a major logistics hub: FedEx was founded here in 1971, and the Memphis International Airport handles more freight than any airport in the world except Hong Kong. The National Civil Rights Museum (built around the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968) is the most significant civil rights museum in the US.

Nashville — 715,000 (metro: 2.1 million)
Tennessee's capital and the fastest-growing major city in the mid-South. Nashville's identity is anchored in country music — the Grand Ole Opry (1927) and Music Row — but the city has diversified into healthcare (Hospital Corporation of America, Community Health Systems, dozens of major hospital systems), finance, and higher education (Vanderbilt, Belmont, Fisk, Meharry Medical College). The Nashville food scene has emerged as one of the South's best, centered on hot chicken, 12 South, the Gulch, and East Nashville's creative neighborhoods.

Knoxville — 195,000 (metro: 900,000)
East Tennessee's largest city, home to the University of Tennessee. Knoxville was the site of the 1982 World's Fair; the Sunsphere tower that remains is the fair's signature landmark. Market Square downtown has been revitalized into one of the finest small urban gathering spaces in the South. Access to the Smokies (40 miles) makes Knoxville a gateway city for outdoor recreation.

Chattanooga — 185,000 (metro: 580,000)
Tennessee's most dramatically located city, in a river gorge surrounded by mountains. Chattanooga has reinvented itself as an outdoor recreation and entrepreneurship hub after decades of post-industrial decline. The city was the first in the US to offer citywide gigabit internet (2010) and has attracted technology startups as a result. The Tennessee Aquarium, Lookout Mountain, and the Tennessee Riverwalk make it one of the finest mid-size cities for visitors in the state.