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Nashville, Tennessee
| Nashville, Tennessee | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Nashville
Freddie O'Connell | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2023 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2027 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2027 |
| City council seats: | 41 |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 715,884 |
| Race: | White 56% African American 24.2% Asian 3.9% Native American 0.6% Pacific Islander 0% Multiple 7.5% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 13.7% |
| Median household income: | $75,664 |
| High school graduation rate: | 90.3% |
| College graduation rate: | 47.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Nashville offices | |
| Tennessee Congressional Delegation Tennessee State Legislature Tennessee state executive offices | |
Nashville is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1963, the governments of the city of Nashville and Davidson County consolidated to form the Nashville-Davidson Metro Government.[1] The city's population was 715,884 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Nashville utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Mayor
The mayor is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the mayor include proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations.[2] The current Mayor of Nashville is Freddie O'Connell (nonpartisan). O'Connell assumed office in 2023.
City council
The Nashville Metro Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[3]
The metro council has forty-one members. Thirty-five members are elected by one of the city's thirty-five districts, while the vice-mayor and five other members are elected at large. Each member of the metro council serves four-year terms. The vice-mayor presides over council meetings.[3]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Nashville has a Democratic mayor. As of September 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
Note: The city of Nashville operates under a consolidated government with Davidson County. Members of the Metro Council are elected through 35 numbered districts and five at-large districts within the county. The mayor is elected by the entire county. The cities of Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Goodlettsville, Oak Hill, and Ridgetop each have their own governing bodies, but residents are able to vote for the mayor of Nashville and the Metro Council.[1]
2024
The city of Nashville, Tennessee, held general elections for county assessor and circuit court judge on August 1, 2024. A primary was scheduled for March 5, 2024. The filing deadline for the primary was December 14, 2023, and the filing deadline for the general election was April 4, 2024.
2023
The city of Nashville, Tennessee, held general elections for mayor, vice mayor, and city council on August 3, 2023. A runoff election was scheduled for September 14, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was May 18, 2023.
2022
The city of Nashville, Tennessee, held general elections for county clerk, district attorney general, public defender, register of deeds, sheriff, circuit court clerk, criminal court clerk, juvenile court clerk, chancery court judge, circuit court judge, criminal court judge, general session judge, and juvenile court judge on August 4, 2022. A primary was scheduled for May 3, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was February 17, 2022.
2020
Nashville, Tennessee, held general elections for assessor of property, county trustee, one chancery court judge, and one criminal court judge on August 6, 2020. A primary was scheduled for March 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was December 19, 2019.
2019
The city held general elections for mayor and all 41 metro council seats on August 1, 2019. The filing deadline for this election was May 16, 2019.
A special election for the District 29 seat on the metro council was scheduled for February 12, 2019. The filing deadline for this election was January 3, 2019. A runoff election was scheduled for March 19, 2019.
2018
Davidson County, Tennessee, held general elections for Chancery Court Part 2, county clerk, criminal court clerk, Criminal Court Division 2, General Sessions Court Division 3, General Sessions Court Division 10, juvenile court clerk, public defender, register of deeds, sheriff, and trustee on August 2, 2018. If a race had more than two candidates for a party nomination, a primary was held on May 1, 2018.
Nashville also held a special election for mayor on August 2, 2018.
2017
The city of Nashville, Tennessee, held a special election for the District 33 seat on the metro council on August 15, 2017. A runoff election took place on September 19, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 6, 2017. This election filled the vacancy created when former councilman Sam Coleman was appointed to a district judgeship in May 2017. The winner served the remainder of Coleman's term, which expired in 2019.[4]
2015
The city of Nashville, Tennessee, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and metro council on August 6, 2015. A runoff in the races where it was required took place place on September 10, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was May 21, 2015. All 41 metro council seats—including the office of vice mayor—were up for election.[5][6]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Nashville | |
|---|---|
| Nashville | |
| Population | 715,884 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 503 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 57.1% |
| Black/African American | 25.2% |
| Asian | 3.4% |
| Native American | 0.3% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| Other (single race) | 4.8% |
| Multiple | 9.1% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 13.6% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 90.3% |
| College graduation rate | 47.3% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $75,664 |
| Persons below poverty level | 13.9% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from July 1 to June 30 of the next year. The mayor is responsible for proposing the budget. The metro council must pass a balanced budget by June 30 of each year. The metro council also holds hearings to allow for public input in the budget process.[7]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[8]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[9] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[10] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[8]
Nashville, Tennessee, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
Historic Metro Courthouse, Suite 100
1 Public Square
Nashville, TN 37201
Phone: 615-862-6000
City Clerk's office
Historic Metro Courthouse, Suite 205
1 Public Square
Nashville, TN 37201
Phone: 615-862-6770
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
The city of Nashville is in Davidson County. A list of ballot measures in Davidson County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Nashville, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Nashville, Tennessee, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020, downtown and at Capitol Hill.[11] The same day, Mayor John Cooper (D) declared a state of emergency, issued a curfew, and requested that Gov. Bill Lee (R) deploy the Tennessee National Guard to the city.[12]
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Nashville, Tennessee, as a city or county that did not prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[13]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 City of Nashville, "A Short History of the Creation of Metropolitan Government for Nashville-Davidson County," accessed September 22, 2014 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Nash" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, "City Charter, Article 5. - The Metropolitan County Mayor and Vice Mayor," accessed May 28, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 City of Nashville, "Metropolitan Council Office," accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ Tennessean, "Metro Council picks Sam Coleman to replace former Nashville judge Casey Moreland," May 16, 2017
- ↑ City of Nashville, "Davidson County Election Commission," accessed December 4, 2014
- ↑ City of Nashville Election Commission, "Official general election results," accessed September 15, 2015
- ↑ [https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2023-05/FY24_Recommended_Budget_Book.pdf?ct=1684513548 City of Nashville, "FY 2023-2024 Recommended Budget Book," accessed August 23, 2023]
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ WKRN, "Nashville ‘I Will Breathe’: Protesters march to Capitol Hill for George Floyd," May 30, 2020
- ↑ WBIR, "Curfew established, National Guard mobilized as protests continue in Nashville," May 31, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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