2025

Counties in Tennessee ranked by White Population

This list ranks the 93 counties in Tennessee based on their 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 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest White population in Tennessee

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  • 1
    Davidson County
    White population in Davidson County is 464,623
    59.73% of Davidson County population is White
  • 2
    Knox County
    White population in Knox County is 424,258
    81.73% of Knox County population is White
  • 3
    Shelby County
    White population in Shelby County is 362,814
    37.43% of Shelby County population is White
  • 4
    Hamilton County
    White population in Hamilton County is 285,244
    72.20% of Hamilton County population is White
  • 5
    Rutherford County
    White population in Rutherford County is 270,130
    70.05% of Rutherford County population is White

List of 93 counties in Tennessee by White Population

View Methodology
Rank by White Population
County
White Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Tennessee White Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Davidson County 464,623 59.73% 8.43%
2 Knox County 424,258 81.73% 7.70%
3 Shelby County 362,814 37.43% 6.58%
4 Hamilton County 285,244 72.20% 5.18%
5 Rutherford County 270,130 70.05% 4.90%
6 Williamson County 227,491 83.37% 4.13%
7 Sumner County 173,030 81.38% 3.14%
8 167,010 65.61% 3.03%
9 153,753 93.10% 2.79%
10 134,682 82.73% 2.44%
11 131,666 90.72% 2.39%
12 125,168 87.98% 2.27%
13 99,245 85.10% 1.80%
14 92,182 88.05% 1.67%
15 90,585 80.56% 1.64%
16 75,645 87.74% 1.37%
17 72,835 87.75% 1.32%
18 68,285 92.21% 1.24%
19 64,730 82.10% 1.17%
20 60,851 94.63% 1.10%
21 59,327 83.20% 1.08%
22 58,173 55.87% 1.06%
23 56,164 94.34% 1.02%
24 54,809 88.84% 0.99%
25 54,711 94.41% 0.99%
26 54,669 87.93% 0.99%
27 53,861 91.75% 0.98%
28 52,328 92.01% 0.95%
29 52,097 89.83% 0.95%
30 51,640 89.68% 0.94%
31 48,627 75.68% 0.88%
32 45,126 81.09% 0.82%
33 45,081 89.56% 0.82%
34 43,865 93.27% 0.80%
35 41,757 77.05% 0.76%
36 40,212 88.68% 0.73%
37 39,256 89.93% 0.71%
38 38,905 95.90% 0.71%
39 38,315 86.80% 0.70%
40 35,271 93.29% 0.64%
41 32,928 86.99% 0.60%
42 32,406 87.57% 0.59%
43 31,658 94.41% 0.57%
44 31,574 89.08% 0.57%
45 30,427 78.23% 0.55%
46 29,919 67.60% 0.54%
47 29,792 86.95% 0.54%
48 29,365 87.49% 0.53%
49 27,703 90.80% 0.50%
50 26,864 83.94% 0.49%
51 26,824 92.90% 0.49%
52 26,513 81.19% 0.48%
53 25,880 92.54% 0.47%
54 25,657 86.20% 0.47%
55 25,427 87.93% 0.46%
56 25,122 90.87% 0.46%
57 24,308 91.05% 0.44%
58 23,882 89.84% 0.43%
59 23,406 95.97% 0.42%
60 22,328 95.74% 0.41%
61 21,684 96.51% 0.39%
62 19,995 92.64% 0.36%
63 19,965 94.64% 0.36%
64 19,349 91.14% 0.35%
65 19,010 89.06% 0.34%
66 18,762 95.24% 0.34%
67 18,084 90.69% 0.33%
68 17,480 92.77% 0.32%
69 17,367 91.19% 0.32%
70 17,096 89.23% 0.31%
71 15,904 61.17% 0.29%
72 15,739 93.11% 0.29%
73 15,433 85.41% 0.28%
74 15,372 89.70% 0.28%
75 15,336 92.63% 0.28%
76 14,784 55.35% 0.27%
77 14,183 93.91% 0.26%
78 13,931 88.95% 0.25%
79 13,543 94.31% 0.25%
80 13,518 92.42% 0.25%
81 12,624 90.81% 0.23%
82 12,516 93.29% 0.23%
83 11,759 93.70% 0.21%
84 11,515 75.32% 0.21%
85 10,962 91.88% 0.20%
86 8,334 92.61% 0.15%
87 8,084 44.52% 0.15%
88 7,979 93.10% 0.14%
89 7,329 94.41% 0.13%
90 6,713 96.65% 0.12%
91 6,218 95.11% 0.11%
92 5,035 96.11% 0.09%
93 4,975 68.50% 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 White population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

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