AreaProfile

Memphis, Tennessee

Area Profile

618,980 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Memphis, in Shelby County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity138th of 139 published cities26
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 150 published cities75
Climate88th of 149 published cities68
Physical resilience87th of 150 published cities49
AccessTop 31% of 149 published cities98
Economic stability136th of 150 published cities39
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.6% and the Opportunity signal places Memphis in the bottom 1%.

A major airport is 5 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
618,980
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,736
Bottom 25% nationally
Density
2,136/sq mi
289.8 sq mi of land
Median age
34.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Shelby County
Tennessee
Metro area
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Nearest major airport
MEM
5 mi · Frederick W Smith Intl/Memphis
Median home value
$169,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.6% is lower than 9% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 264,357 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,072$51,736Bottom 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$933$33,100Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate23.1%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.7 minBottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher28.0%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment264,357Top 22%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.9%Bottom 22%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.8%Bottom 26%June 2026
Labor force280,082Top 22%June 2026
Labor force participation63.8%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$60,240Bottom 16%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,890Bottom 18%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.6%Top 9%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/06104.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.6% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202452k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,736 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Memphis, TN-MS-AR
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand37,750$39,510
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers19,460$63,070
Retail Salespersons17,050$32,580
Fast Food and Counter Workers15,320$27,490
Registered Nurses13,760$81,500
Stockers and Order Fillers12,200$37,280

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,181 takes 27% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.3 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
27.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,181
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$169,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.27Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate44.9%Bottom 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,402289,887Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$12$1,181Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,795$169,000Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income27.4%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.7%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →

Population has fallen 3% since 2020, reaching 610,919 in 2024.

Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024628k611k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 54.9 inches, including 2.7 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MEMPHIS INTL AP, 3.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation54.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall2.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, tornado and landslide.

TornadoElevated
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, inland flooding, lightning, ice storm, winter weather, strong wind, wildfire, hurricane, drought, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 5 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM5 mi11,120 ft
Millington/MemphisNQA18 mi8,001 ft
Tunica MuniUTA36 mi8,500 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Compare

Put Memphis side by side with a similar place.

Memphis vs BirminghamMemphis vs ShreveportMemphis vs TulsaMemphis vs Mobile

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Memphis

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
3801644,136$76,569
3813443,947$60,622
3812543,071$86,162
3810942,452$37,496
3812842,162$47,645
3811141,934$52,589