2025

Counties in Tennessee ranked by Non-Hispanic White Population

This list ranks the 93 counties in Tennessee based on their Non-Hispanic White 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 White population in Tennessee

View All
  • 1
    Knox County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Knox County is 387,760
    74.69% of Knox County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 2
    Davidson County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Davidson County is 379,503
    48.79% of Davidson County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 3
    Shelby County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Shelby County is 306,862
    31.66% of Shelby County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 4
    Hamilton County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Hamilton County is 255,254
    64.60% of Hamilton County population is Non-Hispanic White
  • 5
    Rutherford County
    Non-Hispanic White population in Rutherford County is 227,872
    59.10% of Rutherford County population is Non-Hispanic White

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

View Methodology
Rank by Non-Hispanic White Population
County
Non-Hispanic White Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Tennessee Non-Hispanic White Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Knox County 387,760 74.69% 7.79%
2 Davidson County 379,503 48.79% 7.62%
3 Shelby County 306,862 31.66% 6.16%
4 Hamilton County 255,254 64.60% 5.13%
5 Rutherford County 227,872 59.10% 4.58%
6 Williamson County 207,584 76.08% 4.17%
7 Sumner County 159,392 74.97% 3.20%
8 147,064 89.05% 2.95%
9 137,242 53.92% 2.76%
10 123,573 75.91% 2.48%
11 122,694 84.54% 2.46%
12 116,192 81.67% 2.33%
13 90,448 77.56% 1.82%
14 84,933 81.12% 1.71%
15 80,422 71.52% 1.62%
16 69,518 80.64% 1.40%
17 67,994 81.92% 1.37%
18 64,747 87.44% 1.30%
19 58,899 74.71% 1.18%
20 58,415 90.85% 1.17%
21 53,978 90.67% 1.08%
22 52,899 50.81% 1.06%
23 52,665 90.88% 1.06%
24 50,528 81.27% 1.01%
25 50,394 85.85% 1.01%
26 50,359 70.62% 1.01%
27 49,590 87.20% 1.00%
28 48,897 79.26% 0.98%
29 48,278 83.25% 0.97%
30 46,935 81.51% 0.94%
31 45,251 70.42% 0.91%
32 41,335 87.89% 0.83%
33 41,139 81.73% 0.83%
34 38,114 84.05% 0.77%
35 38,008 70.13% 0.76%
36 37,944 93.53% 0.76%
37 37,563 67.50% 0.75%
38 36,917 84.58% 0.74%
39 34,827 78.90% 0.70%
40 33,680 89.08% 0.68%
41 30,443 90.79% 0.61%
42 30,348 80.17% 0.61%
43 29,445 79.57% 0.59%
44 29,122 82.17% 0.58%
45 28,402 73.03% 0.57%
46 28,180 63.67% 0.57%
47 28,067 81.91% 0.56%
48 27,871 83.04% 0.56%
49 26,229 85.97% 0.53%
50 25,598 88.66% 0.51%
51 25,412 79.40% 0.51%
52 24,504 87.62% 0.49%
53 24,307 74.43% 0.49%
54 24,035 83.12% 0.48%
55 23,904 80.31% 0.48%
56 23,172 86.80% 0.47%
57 22,880 82.76% 0.46%
58 22,546 84.81% 0.45%
59 22,258 91.26% 0.45%
60 21,725 93.15% 0.44%
61 21,215 94.43% 0.43%
62 19,494 90.32% 0.39%
63 19,049 90.30% 0.38%
64 18,273 86.07% 0.37%
65 18,004 84.35% 0.36%
66 17,886 90.80% 0.36%
67 17,198 86.25% 0.35%
68 16,104 85.46% 0.32%
69 16,011 84.07% 0.32%
70 15,898 82.97% 0.32%
71 14,986 88.65% 0.30%
72 14,669 81.18% 0.29%
73 14,619 56.22% 0.29%
74 14,550 87.88% 0.29%
75 14,407 84.07% 0.29%
76 13,642 51.07% 0.27%
77 13,565 89.82% 0.27%
78 12,943 82.64% 0.26%
79 12,884 89.72% 0.26%
80 12,576 85.98% 0.25%
81 11,827 85.07% 0.24%
82 11,742 87.52% 0.24%
83 11,031 87.90% 0.22%
84 10,435 87.46% 0.21%
85 10,013 65.50% 0.20%
86 7,720 85.79% 0.16%
87 7,590 41.80% 0.15%
88 7,511 87.64% 0.15%
89 7,175 92.43% 0.14%
90 6,522 93.90% 0.13%
91 5,983 91.51% 0.12%
92 4,841 92.40% 0.10%
93 4,366 60.11% 0.09%

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 White population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Non-Hispanic White 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 White, 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 White alone, while others identify as Non-Hispanic White along with another race (such as Non-Hispanic White and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White .
  • We’ve used the “Non-Hispanic White alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Non-Hispanic White population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Non-Hispanic White 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 White .
  2. % of Total Tennessee Non-Hispanic White Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Non-Hispanic White 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 White 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 White 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 White 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.