What Is the Population of Nashville?
- 5 sections
- 3 tables
- 3 sources cited
Nashville had an estimated 721,074 residents on July 1, 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates. That figure covers the consolidated Metro government and excludes the small cities inside Davidson County. The wider Nashville metro area, 14 counties in Middle Tennessee, had an estimated 2,197,416 people, which makes it a city of about 0.7 million inside a region of about 2.2 million.
The population figures here come from the Census Bureau’s population estimates program: the city and town totals and the metro area totals with components of change. Estimates are revised every year, so a figure quoted elsewhere for 2024 may differ slightly from the 2024 value in the current release.
City, County, or Metro: Which Number to Use
| Area | 2020 estimates base | July 1, 2025 estimate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville-Davidson (balance) | 689,449 | 721,074 | +31,625 (4.6%) |
| Davidson County (includes Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, and parts of Goodlettsville and Ridgetop) | 715,887 | 745,904 | +30,017 (4.2%) |
| Nashville metro area (14 counties) | 2,014,440 | 2,197,416 | +182,976 (9.1%) |
Use the first line when a ranking of U.S. cities is the question, the second when a county service or budget is the subject, and the third when you mean the regional job and housing market. Why there are three different “Nashvilles” is explained in what state Nashville is in and how Metro is organized.
Where Nashville Ranks Among U.S. Cities
In the 2025 estimates Nashville is the 20th largest city in the country, just ahead of Oklahoma City (719,849) and behind Denver (740,613). The ranking is close enough to flip between releases: in the same file’s 2024 column Oklahoma City (713,745) was slightly ahead of Nashville (711,830). Las Vegas (679,817), Washington, D.C. (693,645), and Boston (672,973) all come in below Nashville. Within Tennessee, Nashville is the largest city, followed by Memphis (609,647).
Is Nashville Still Growing?
Yes, but the growth is landing mostly outside Davidson County. Between April 2020 and July 2025 the metro area grew about 9.1 percent, while Davidson County grew about 4.2 percent. The fastest growth in the metro was in the surrounding counties:
| County | Growth, April 2020 to July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Wilson (Lebanon, Mount Juliet) | 18.5% |
| Maury (Columbia, Spring Hill) | 17.0% |
| Rutherford (Murfreesboro, Smyrna) | 13.1% |
| Williamson (Franklin, Brentwood) | 9.8% |
| Sumner (Gallatin, Hendersonville) | 9.8% |
| Davidson (Nashville) | 4.2% |
Some of the region’s cities grew faster still. Lebanon went from an estimates base of 38,495 to 53,412, Murfreesboro from 152,825 to 171,178, and Smyrna from 53,100 to 63,321, according to the city file. Brentwood was essentially flat (45,377 to 45,313).
Where the New Residents Come From
The Census Bureau splits population change into three parts: natural increase (births minus deaths), international migration, and domestic migration (moves between U.S. counties). Adding up the yearly components from April 2020 through July 2025 gives a more complicated picture than the popular story of a city filling up with newcomers from other states:
| Component, April 2020 to July 2025 | Metro area | Davidson County |
|---|---|---|
| Natural increase | +36,185 | +20,305 |
| International migration | +57,804 | +35,794 |
| Domestic migration | +89,086 | −25,534 |
The metro as a whole gained the most from people moving in from other parts of the United States. Davidson County, by the same estimates, lost more residents to other U.S. counties than it gained, and grew because of births and international arrivals. The surrounding counties show the opposite pattern: net domestic migration added about 23,700 people to Rutherford, 22,600 to Wilson, 17,600 to Williamson, 16,400 to Sumner, and 14,700 to Maury over the same period. The estimates do not say how many of those movers came from Davidson County itself. These totals are sums of the Census Bureau’s annual components; the bureau also reports a small residual that is not assigned to any component.
International migration has a long local history. South Nashville is home to what WPLN describes as the biggest population of Kurdish people in the United States, anchored by the Salahadeen Center, founded in 1998 (WPLN, “Little Kurdistan”). The reasons people give for choosing the region, from jobs to taxes, are covered in why so many people are moving to Nashville.
What the Resident Count Leaves Out
Population estimates count residents, not visitors or commuters. Commuters who live in another county but work in Nashville, and visitors staying in its hotels, add to the number of people in the city on a given day. Neither group appears in the 721,074 figure, which is worth remembering when a statistic is divided by the city’s population, such as crime rates or spending per resident.