Nashville's population

[Kheldane]

One thing to note is the fact that Metro schools are up for an award for systems that have shown the most improvement. They are a finalist there. So things are getting better.

[smeagolsfree]

Channel 5 reported at 4 pm that the population of Nashville is now 607,000. It was revised up 30,000 form the 2005 estimate. I could not fine the link but at least we know we are passed 600,000.

[elguapo731]

I was chatting with a police officer a few weeks ago and I asked him the population question. He guessed that we are over 600,000. The kicker is he said metro swells to close or over a million daily. What was most staggering about the conversation was that the police force for metro is 1,200. Realistically it should be at 1,300 but they find it hard to maintain that number. At any given time only several hundred are on duty as they go by three shifts a day.

So on average approx 400 hundred officers, this includes detectives, are on duty covering 502 square miles and protecting anywhere from 600,000 to 1,000,000 people daily. Is it just me or does this seem like small force for the size of the city?

[Hankster]

Channel 5 reported at 4 pm that the population of Nashville is now 607,000. It was revised up 30,000 form the 2005 estimate. I could not fine the link but at least we know we are passed 600,000.

[ATLBrain]

Channel 5 reported at 4 pm that the population of Nashville is now 607,000. It was revised up 30,000 form the 2005 estimate. I could not fine the link but at least we know we are passed 600,000.

[ruralkid08]

Keep an eye on the timeline. That 607K estimate for you guys was a/o 2005. My sources give a bit greater population estimate at that time. Plus, the county is growing at an average (arithmetic mean) of 6700 per year. So sometime this spring, the population should (reliably) be greater than 620,000.

[Memphis10]

I've been a lifelong resident of Nashville and it is my opinion that Nashville's actual population is closer to 650,000, maybe 700,000. There is a LOT of people that, for one reason or another, are living here "under the radar". The reason I say this is because I've worked in the restaurant business for many years here in Nashville from 1977 to 1994. From talking to employees and workers with whom I've dealt there is a large population of both African-American and Hispanic people in Nashville who are not being counted. Especially in the Hispanic community, immigrants are not included as they should. In the black community many choose to live "off the grid". These people live a cash-only existance, no bank accounts, no credit cards, living with a friend or relative, no automobile, paying cash for everything. They worked for me a few months, then they're gone to the restaurant down the street for a few cents more an hour. One waitress who worked for me claimed there are literally thousands of African-Americans in Nashville who don't want to be included in any census and will do whatever is necessary to avoid it.

[nashvol85]

The official adjustment will be 607,413. Here's the article:

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...011/-1/ARCHIVES

What does it mean for our metro population?

For 2005:

Cannon - 13,337

Cheatham - 38,603

Davidson - 607,413

Dickson - 45,894

Hickman - 23,793

Macon - 21,549

Robertson - 60,379

Rutherford - 218,292

Smith - 18,647

Sumner - 145,009

Trousdale - 7,677

Williamson - 153,595

Wilson - 100,508

total: 1,454,696

Maury - 76,292

total CMA - 1,530,988

And that was for 2005...I'd say that safely our combined metro is over 1.6 million at this present time.

[Justiceham]

The official adjustment will be 607,413. Here's the article:

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...011/-1/ARCHIVES

What does it mean for our metro population?

For 2005:

Cannon - 13,337

Cheatham - 38,603

Davidson - 607,413

Dickson - 45,894

Hickman - 23,793

Macon - 21,549

Robertson - 60,379

Rutherford - 218,292

Smith - 18,647

Sumner - 145,009

Trousdale - 7,677

Williamson - 153,595

Wilson - 100,508

total: 1,454,696

Maury - 76,292

total CMA - 1,530,988

And that was for 2005...I'd say that safely our combined metro is over 1.6 million at this present time.

[dfwtiger]

I agree, it's too bad that it won't be adjusted in time for the official 2006 count. The 2007 count, however, will be interesting to see.

[elguapo731]

Technically it's my understanding that the metro consist only of communities within Davidson county that share services, Hermatage, Donaldson, Antioch, Nashville Proper, etc. There are a few communities such as Berry Hill that don't share all services with the rest of the Metro but are still considered to be part of the whole. Communities within Summner, Williamson, Rutherford, etc are not included in our metro but when you add these surounding counties our populations baloon. Nashville and it's surrounding are is a nice size.

[nashvol85]

Technically it's my understanding that the metro consist only of communities within Davidson county that share services, Hermatage, Donaldson, Antioch, Nashville Proper, etc. There are a few communities such as Berry Hill that don't share all services with the rest of the Metro but are still considered to be part of the whole. Communities within Summner, Williamson, Rutherford, etc are not included in our metro but when you add these surounding counties our populations baloon. Nashville and it's surrounding are is a nice size.

[dfwtiger]

Metro-Nashville governs everything in the city of Nashville, which excludes Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Goodlettsville, Lakewood, and Oak Hill. Those communities share some services with Nashville, but I believe they have their own tax bases. Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Goodlettsville, and Lakewood have their own police forces, but I do not think that any of them have their own seperate fire department.

The rest of the county is split between two service districts: urban services and general services. Urban services covers about 170 square miles and about 400,000 of the people in the county. They get more services than the general service district, but pay higher taxes. If you look at a map that shows city boundaries, you might have seen one of Nashville that only has a smaller circular border inside Davidson county that seems to stretch out and spread to the south/southeast. That is the urban service district.

For the actual numbers, just go to Nashville.gov and look at the FY 2006 operating budget PDF. I would post the numbers, but my internet is too slow to load the PDF right now. It is a mega file...over 700 pages. The info about urban/general services is on about page 30.

[ATLBrain]

Still don't know why Maury isn't included in the MSA... don't most of those residents work in Williamson these days?

[nashvol85]

Still don't know why Maury isn't included in the MSA... don't most of those residents work in Williamson these days?

[MidTenn1]

I think what is interesting is the precentage...not the actual numbers. Back in 1960, Davidson county was the metro area and it represented. It would be interesting to know exactly what precentage Nashville/Davidson holds in relation to the rest of the metropolitan area. I would imagine that it is between 47 and 55 percent. Also, the influence of a city should not be based on population....but should be viewd by recognition....and influence. Now that we are moving to a global economy....I think it would be interesting to see where Nashville fits into the picture. We have influence in the arts....MUSIC....and this is spread around the world. What type of global city do we want to be in time? Do we want to be one?

Nick Lindenman in the Planning Department is the census guy...he should have all of our population answers.

[Hankster]

It's economic influence is starting to cross the borders as Nissan USA has relocated to Nashville and a Japanese consulate will open here soon.

[chris holman]

News 2 report on the population surge: Nashville's growth

[chris holman]

A article today on middle Tennessee's population boom: Tennessean

[titanhog]

A article today on middle Tennessee's population boom: Tennessean

[thanner]

Actually there are probably more people in the Atlanta 'burbs than that.

Atlanta's city limits are fairly small (132 square miles) compared to Nashville's (526 sq mile). But Hotlanta has a density of 3667 per sq mile while Nashville's is just 1145 per sq mile.

City populations are often very deceiving. Obviously Nashville (pop. 600,000) is much smaller than cities like Miami and Atlanta, which both have about 400,000 people. It's really the metro area population (MSA) that gives you an idea of cities' size. Or you can look at county populations (Knoxville is less than 200,000 but Knox County is 400,000 plus).

In 2003 Louisville went to a metro government, like Nashville did in the 1960s, and their population mushroomed literally overnight. I don't know why more cities don't do this (well, except it's a power struggle between city/county and probably a huge bureaucratic hassle).

This is probably pretty basic information to most UP folks, but I've heard people claim Nashville is "bigger" than Atlanta or Miami because of those city population figures.

[TennBear]

A article today on middle Tennessee's population boom: Tennessean

[thanner]

I did not find that the article said too very much. It certainly didn't surprise me. What did surprise me and make me worry about the populace that writes into the Tennessean Paper were the letters. I am shocked at the amount open prejudice that was displayed by those people that wrote in. I hope that they are just the fringe that is willing to write in.

[Hankster]

It poor reporting by the Tennessean to say that Nashville's population is only up 1.2% since 2000. They should know that the census was challenged by Nashville and the Census Bureau admitted an undercount of more than 30,000. Nashville's 2006 population is not the 552,120 listed, but probably something like 585,000. That population count does not includes other incorporated towns inside Davidson county. The Davidson County 2006 population is closer to 610,000.

Here's a list of the 22 cities in Middle Tennessee that currently have a population in excess of 10,000. The vast majority of these towns are in the Nashville Metro area.

City...................2000 Pop...2006 Pop

Brentwood..........23,445......33,789

Clarksville.........103,445....113,175

Columbia............33,055......33,811

Cookeville ..........23,923......28,340

Dickson...............12,244......13,062

Franklin...............41,842......55,870

Gallatin...............23,230......27,723

Goodlettesville....13,780......15,584

Hendersonville....40,620......46,218

LaVergne...........18,687......27,255

Lawrenceburg.....10,796......10,819

Lebanon.............20,235......23,706

Lewisburg...........10,413......10,834

Mt. Juliet.............12,366......19,369

Murfreesboro......68,816......92,559

Nashville...........545,524....552,120 (probably 585,000)

Portland...............8,458......10,721

Shelbyville..........16,105......19,149

Smyrna..............25,569......34,419

Springfield..........14,329......16,523

Spring Hill.............7,715......20,768

Tullahoma...........17,994......18,913

At the rate Murfreesboro is growing it will surpass 100,000 by 2008 and 110,000 by 2010. Not long after that, it is likely to pass Clarksville as the 5th largest city in Tennessee.

[chris holman]

It poor reporting by the Tennessean to say that Nashville's population is only up 1.2% since 2000. They should know that the census was challenged by Nashville and the Census Bureau admitted an undercount of more than 30,000. Nashville's 2006 population is not the 552,120 listed, but probably something like 585,000. That population count does not includes other incorporated towns inside Davidson county. The Davidson County 2006 population is closer to 610,000.

Here's a list of the 22 cities in Middle Tennessee that currently have a population in excess of 10,000. The vast majority of these towns are in the Nashville Metro area.

City...................2000 Pop...2006 Pop

Brentwood..........23,445......33,789

Clarksville.........103,445....113,175

Columbia............33,055......33,811

Cookeville ..........23,923......28,340

Dickson...............12,244......13,062

Franklin...............41,842......55,870

Gallatin...............23,230......27,723

Goodlettesville....13,780......15,584

Hendersonville....40,620......46,218

LaVergne...........18,687......27,255

Lawrenceburg.....10,796......10,819

Lebanon.............20,235......23,706

Lewisburg...........10,413......10,834

Mt. Juliet.............12,366......19,369

Murfreesboro......68,816......92,559

Nashville...........545,524....552,120 (probably 585,000)

Portland...............8,458......10,721

Shelbyville..........16,105......19,149

Smyrna..............25,569......34,419

Springfield..........14,329......16,523

Spring Hill.............7,715......20,768

Tullahoma...........17,994......18,913

At the rate Murfreesboro is growing it will surpass 100,000 by 2008 and 110,000 by 2010. Not long after that, it is likely to pass Clarksville as the 5th largest city in Tennessee.