Shelby County, Tennessee

Shelby County is a county in Tennessee, United States, on the Mississippi River at the state’s
western tip. It had a population of 929,744 at the 2020 census, an estimated 910,226 by 2024, and
covers 752.78 square miles (1,949.7 km2) of land centred near 35°11′N 89°54′W.

Memphis is the county seat and the county’s largest city by far; its postal code is 38103, the
first of dozens Memphis uses. The county holds 7 incorporated cities and a scatter of unincorporated communities,
mostly small crossroads settlements or historic districts now inside Memphis’s city limits, and
it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 47157.

Towns & Villages in Shelby County

Shelby County has 7 incorporated cities on record, all in the Memphis metropolitan area, plus a
handful of named unincorporated communities. Tennessee has no functioning civil townships, so the
table below drops that column. Unincorp. covers rural crossroads communities with no local
government of their own; several places from older lists (Whitehaven, Frayser, Raleigh,
Binghampton, and dozens more) are historic Memphis neighborhoods annexed decades ago, not
separate settlements, and are not repeated here as standalone entries.

Beyond the incorporated cities, Wikipedia’s gazetteer lists 11 named unincorporated communities
in the county. Cordova is by far the largest, with 68,779 residents at the 2020 census, though
most of Cordova sits inside Memphis’s city limits after annexation — South Cordova and Rocky
Point were de-annexed back to unincorporated status in 2021, and residents in the remaining
annexed portion have petitioned for further de-annexation since. The others are small rural or
railroad-junction settlements in the county’s east and north:

Rosemark’s figure is a 2010 count from before it was recognised as a named census unit — no
2020 figure exists for it. Fisherville straddles the Shelby–Fayette county line, so its
population is not counted entirely in Shelby County. Shelby Forest, Barretville, Kerrville,
Northaven and Benjestown have no census population of their own; each is a crossroads or
historic-district name with no separate government or Census Bureau count.

ZIP Codes

• 38103–38141 (selected codes) — Memphis, spread across dozens of ZIPs for its size
• 38133, 38134, 38135, 38184 — Bartlett
• 38017, 38027 — Collierville
• 38138, 38139, 38183 — Germantown
• 38053 — Millington
• 38002, 38028 — Arlington
• 38002 — Lakeland (shared with Arlington)
• 38016, 38018, 38088 — Cordova
• 38028 — Eads and Fisherville (shared)
• 38029 — Ellendale
• 38014 — Brunswick

Rosemark, Shelby Forest, Barretville, Kerrville, Northaven and Benjestown have no ZIP of their
own; mail there is delivered under a neighboring town’s code.

Geography

Shelby County sits at Tennessee’s far western tip, on the eastern bluffs and lowlands of the
Mississippi River. Of its 781.57 square miles, 752.78 are land and 28.79 are water, about 3.7
percent — a higher water share than most Tennessee counties, driven by the Mississippi itself
and the Wolf Loop and McKellar Lake along Memphis’s riverfront. The Wolf River crosses the county
west to east through Germantown, Collierville, and Memphis before reaching the Mississippi, and
Tennessee’s lowest point, on the Mississippi just outside Memphis, is inside the county.

Tipton County lies to the north, Fayette County to the east, DeSoto County and Marshall County
in Mississippi to the south, and Crittenden County in Arkansas across the river to the west. Tipton County, Fayette County, DeSoto County and Marshall County all border
Shelby directly; Crittenden County, Arkansas has no live page on this site to link.

Demographics

Shelby County had a population of 929,744 at the 2020 census, and the latest county estimate
puts it near 910,226, a modest decline typical of core urban counties losing residents to
neighboring DeSoto and Fayette counties. Memphis and Bartlett are by far the two largest
communities, together holding roughly three-quarters of the county’s population. Median
household income runs $64,995, below Tennessee’s statewide 2023 ACS figure of $67,631. Shelby
County is one of only two Tennessee counties, alongside Haywood County, where a majority of
residents are Black or African American — 51.1 percent at the 2020 census. Population density
works out to roughly 1,235 people per square mile of land, the highest of any Tennessee county.

Economy & Local Life

FedEx, headquartered in Memphis, is the county’s largest private employer and runs its global
air hub at Memphis International Airport, three miles south of downtown. Naval Support Activity
Mid-South in Millington is the single largest employer based anywhere in Tennessee, with more
than 7,500 military, civilian and contractor personnel on its 1,950-acre base, home to the Navy’s
Bureau of Naval Personnel. Health care and logistics round out the county’s biggest sectors, and
Collierville hosts a large Carrier manufacturing plant. The county’s biggest annual event is
Memphis in May, a month-long festival that includes the World Championship Barbecue Cooking
Contest, drawing competitors and visitors from well beyond the county.

History

The North Carolina legislature (Tennessee was still part of North Carolina’s western district)
authorised Shelby County on 24 November 1819, following a Chickasaw land cession negotiated that
year. It was named for Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky, who helped negotiate that
cession. Memphis was founded on 22 May 1819 and incorporated as the county seat on 19 December
1826, named after the ancient Egyptian capital on the Nile.

Memphis grew into a major Mississippi River cotton and slave-trading port before the Civil War,
and its Beale Street district became a birthplace of the blues in the early 1900s. Civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on 4 April 1968,
while in the city supporting striking sanitation workers; the site is now the National Civil
Rights Museum.

Getting There

Interstate 40, Interstate 55, Interstate 69, Interstate 240 and Interstate 269 all cross the
county, converging on Memphis.

• Nashville — about 210 miles east
• Jackson, Mississippi — about 210 miles south
• Little Rock, Arkansas — about 135 miles west
• Tupelo, Mississippi — about 100 miles southeast

Memphis International Airport, three miles south of downtown Memphis, is the county’s major
commercial airport and also FedEx’s global air hub. Millington Regional Jetport, in the county’s
north, serves general aviation and acts as a FedEx backup field. Amtrak’s City of New Orleans
train stops at Memphis Central Station, connecting Chicago to New Orleans.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Shelby County located?
It sits at Tennessee’s western tip on the Mississippi River, bordered by Tipton, Fayette, DeSoto
(Mississippi), Marshall (Mississippi) and Crittenden (Arkansas) counties.

What is the population of Shelby County?
929,744 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 910,226.

How big is Shelby County?
781.57 square miles (2,024.25 km2) total, of which 752.78 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Shelby County?
Memphis, founded in 1819 and incorporated in 1826, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Shelby County?
Seven incorporated cities — Memphis, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Millington, Arlington
and Lakeland — plus 11 named unincorporated communities, the largest being Cordova.

What ZIP codes does Shelby County use?
Memphis alone spans dozens of ZIPs from 38103 to 38141; the suburbs use 38133–38135 (Bartlett),
38017 and 38027 (Collierville), 38138–38139 (Germantown), 38053 (Millington), and 38002 and
38028 (Arlington and Lakeland).

What is Shelby County known for?
Memphis’s Beale Street blues district, Graceland, and being the birthplace of FedEx, whose
global air hub anchors the county’s economy.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Tennessee.