Who Lives in East Nashville?
- 2 sections
- 1 table
- 4 sources cited
In the 37206 ZIP code, the core of East Nashville, about 28,500 people live on 7.8 square miles. The median age there is 34, younger than the Nashville metro’s 36.9. The median household income is $96,169, against $85,447 for the metro. And 62.8 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 40.9 percent metro-wide. These are U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024 five-year estimates, as published by Census Reporter (Census Reporter, 37206). Those figures describe a neighborhood that has changed. NewsChannel 5 reports that for decades many East Nashville residents were Black and worked hard to keep their neighborhoods safe, then faced rising rents. Wikipedia describes a diverse mix of newcomers and young professionals drawn to the area.
37206 by the Numbers
| Measure | 37206 | Nashville metro |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 28,545 | 2,197,416 (a different Census series: the Vintage 2025 estimate for July 1, 2025) |
| Median age | 34 (±1.2) | 36.9 |
| Median household income | $96,169 (±$13,478) | $85,447 |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 62.8% (±2%) | 40.9% |
| Persons below poverty line | 13.8% (±3.6%) | 10.4% |
| Median value of owner-occupied homes | $600,200 (±$31,478) | $409,600 |
| Mean travel time to work | 21.8 minutes | 27.8 minutes |
Source: ACS 2024 5-year estimates via Census Reporter. Figures in parentheses are margins of error. Greater East Nashville also takes in ZIP codes 37216 and 37207, which these figures do not cover (Wikipedia).
How the Population Has Changed
- Longtime residents. In a 2018 Scalawag story, community organizer Sam McCullough described earlier displacement from urban renewal, the interstate, and Ellington Parkway, then rising rents and investor buying (Scalawag).
- Rising rents. Longtime resident Brenda Ross told NewsChannel 5 that her neighbors were forced out by finances and that “The rent has tripled over the last five years” (NewsChannel 5).
- Newcomers. Wikipedia describes about 15 years of rising incomes, a diverse mix of newcomers, and neighborhoods that continue to attract young professionals.
More on the change is in whether East Nashville is gentrifying, and housing costs are in whether East Nashville is expensive to live in.