Memphis, Tennessee’s “Bluff City” and birthplace of rock ’n’ roll and the blues, anchors a nine-county, tri-state MSA spanning West Tennessee, northwest Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas. With a population of roughly 1.34 million, Memphis is Tennessee’s second-largest metro and one of the nation’s most important logistics and distribution hubs.
The metro’s identity is defined above all by FedEx, whose global headquarters and Memphis International Airport superhub anchor a labor market of roughly 654,000 jobs and make the region home to one of the busiest cargo airports in the world. Healthcare is Memphis’ other defining pillar, led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and Baptist Memorial Health Care, alongside a broad manufacturing and distribution base and a fast-emerging AI/data-center presence anchored by xAI’s Colossus supercomputer campus. Beyond its economic base, Memphis carries an outsized cultural identity. Beale Street, Sun Studio, Stax, and Graceland make it a global music and tourism destination.
