2025

Counties in Tennessee ranked by Non-Hispanic Black Population

This list ranks the 93 counties in Tennessee based on their Non-Hispanic Black or African American population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 13, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Non-Hispanic Black population in Tennessee

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  • 1
    Shelby County
    Non-Hispanic Black population in Shelby County is 485,527
    50.09% of Shelby County population is Non-Hispanic Black
  • 2
    Davidson County
    Non-Hispanic Black population in Davidson County is 176,754
    22.72% of Davidson County population is Non-Hispanic Black
  • 3
    Hamilton County
    Non-Hispanic Black population in Hamilton County is 64,548
    16.34% of Hamilton County population is Non-Hispanic Black
  • 4
    Rutherford County
    Non-Hispanic Black population in Rutherford County is 52,310
    13.57% of Rutherford County population is Non-Hispanic Black
  • 5
    Montgomery County
    Non-Hispanic Black population in Montgomery County is 44,642
    17.54% of Montgomery County population is Non-Hispanic Black

List of 93 counties in Tennessee by Non-Hispanic Black Population

View Methodology
Rank by Non-Hispanic Black Population
County
Non-Hispanic Black Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Tennessee Non-Hispanic Black Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Shelby County 485,527 50.09% 44.20%
2 Davidson County 176,754 22.72% 16.09%
3 Hamilton County 64,548 16.34% 5.88%
4 Rutherford County 52,310 13.57% 4.76%
5 Montgomery County 44,642 17.54% 4.06%
6 Knox County 39,181 7.55% 3.57%
7 Madison County 36,056 34.63% 3.28%
8 16,979 7.99% 1.55%
9 11,447 25.87% 1.04%
10 11,411 17.76% 1.04%
11 11,082 9.86% 1.01%
12 10,871 6.68% 0.99%
13 10,207 38.21% 0.93%
14 9,670 3.54% 0.88%
15 8,830 48.62% 0.80%
16 8,455 32.52% 0.77%
17 7,600 14.02% 0.69%
18 5,458 14.03% 0.50%
19 5,222 6.62% 0.48%
20 5,035 4.32% 0.46%
21 4,989 3.51% 0.45%
22 3,661 6.58% 0.33%
23 3,573 2.46% 0.33%
24 3,208 9.82% 0.29%
25 3,173 1.92% 0.29%
26 2,618 8.18% 0.24%
27 2,578 3.11% 0.23%
28 2,515 8.45% 0.23%
29 2,446 7.14% 0.22%
30 2,379 3.83% 0.22%
31 2,326 6.93% 0.21%
32 2,125 7.35% 0.19%
33 2,052 5.42% 0.19%
34 2,015 4.44% 0.18%
35 1,944 2.25% 0.18%
36 1,925 3.32% 0.18%
37 1,737 2.44% 0.16%
38 1,713 9.48% 0.16%
39 1,694 2.94% 0.15%
40 1,485 9.71% 0.14%
41 1,482 20.40% 0.13%
42 1,447 3.91% 0.13%
43 1,363 5.11% 0.12%
44 1,326 1.79% 0.12%
45 1,294 2.28% 0.12%
46 1,151 1.99% 0.10%
47 1,134 2.57% 0.10%
48 945 4.38% 0.09%
49 889 3.34% 0.08%
50 872 2.00% 0.08%
51 860 1.47% 0.08%
52 830 0.79% 0.08%
53 819 1.63% 0.07%
54 817 2.68% 0.07%
55 815 5.20% 0.07%
56 799 2.86% 0.07%
57 745 1.21% 0.07%
58 694 1.17% 0.06%
59 682 3.98% 0.06%
60 667 3.48% 0.06%
61 588 1.25% 0.05%
62 553 1.46% 0.05%
63 535 1.51% 0.05%
64 501 0.78% 0.05%
65 370 1.86% 0.03%
66 359 1.69% 0.03%
67 353 2.96% 0.03%
68 352 2.33% 0.03%
69 348 1.63% 0.03%
70 336 1.16% 0.03%
71 314 1.35% 0.03%
72 304 2.19% 0.03%
73 289 1.75% 0.03%
74 241 2.81% 0.02%
75 234 0.70% 0.02%
76 216 0.89% 0.02%
77 191 0.69% 0.02%
78 179 1.22% 0.02%
79 137 0.72% 0.01%
80 134 0.33% 0.01%
81 111 0.53% 0.01%
82 100 0.75% 0.01%
83 86 0.38% 0.01%
84 82 0.44% 0.01%
85 77 0.46% 0.01%
86 72 0.93% 0.01%
87 59 0.41% 0.01%
88 55 0.44% 0.01%
89 54 0.27% -
90 43 0.48% -
91 30 0.43% -
92 24 0.37% -
93 18 0.34% -

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in Tennessee by their Non-Hispanic Black or African American population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Non-Hispanic Black Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Non-Hispanic Black, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Non-Hispanic Black alone, while others identify as Non-Hispanic Black along with another race (such as Non-Hispanic Black and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Black .
  • We’ve used the “Non-Hispanic Black alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Non-Hispanic Black population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Non-Hispanic Black alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Non-Hispanic Black .
  2. % of Total Tennessee Non-Hispanic Black Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Non-Hispanic Black population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Non-Hispanic Black populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Non-Hispanic Black population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Non-Hispanic Black populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.