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Memphis, Tennessee
| Memphis, Tennessee | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Memphis
Paul Young | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2023 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2027 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2027 |
| City council seats: | 13 |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 633,104 |
| Race: | White 25% African American 61.6% Asian 1.8% Native American 0.4% Pacific Islander 0% Multiple 4.7% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 9.8% |
| Median household income: | $51,211 |
| High school graduation rate: | 87.4% |
| College graduation rate: | 28.2% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Memphis offices | |
| Tennessee Congressional Delegation Tennessee State Legislature Tennessee state executive offices | |
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee. The city's population was 633,104 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
- County government
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Memphis 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.[1]
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.[1][2] The current Mayor of Memphis is Paul Young (nonpartisan). Young assumed office in 2024.
City council
The Memphis City 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 city council is made up of 13 members. Seven members are elected by one of the city's seven districts, while the other six are elected by super districts. These super districts are larger districts that consist of two or more regular-sized districts. The two super districts each elect three representatives to the city council.[4]
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
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Memphis, Tennessee.
Mayoral partisanship
Memphis 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
2023
The city of Memphis, Tennessee, held general elections for mayor and city council on October 5, 2023. A runoff election was scheduled for November 16, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was July 20, 2023.
An election for court clerk was also scheduled for October 5, 2023, but was canceled after the Memphis City Council voted to make this position appointed.[5]
2022
The city of Memphis, Tennessee, held a special general election for municipal court division 1 judge on August 4, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was April 7, 2022.
Memphis also held special general elections for city council and municipal court division 2 judge on November 8, 2022. The filing deadline for the city council special election was August 18, 2022, and the filing deadline for the municipal court division 2 judge special election was September 14, 2022.
2019
2015
The city of Memphis, Tennessee, held elections for mayor and city council on October 8, 2015. City council races for Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 required runoff elections on November 19, 2015, with no candidates receiving majorities of the general election vote.[6] The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 17, 2015. All 13 city council seats were up for election.[7]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Memphis | |
|---|---|
| Memphis | |
| Population | 633,104 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 293 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 25% |
| Black/African American | 62.9% |
| Asian | 1.7% |
| Native American | 0.5% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | 5.1% |
| Multiple | 4.6% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 10.2% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 87.4% |
| College graduation rate | 28.2% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $51,211 |
| Persons below poverty level | 22.5% |
| 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 city's budget office is responsible for coordinating the budget process. After the budget office compiles the budget requests by the city's different divisions, the proposed budget is submitted to the mayor. The mayor will present the budget to the city council in April. The city council will hold hearings to review and revise the budget. After the review process is complete, the city council will adopt the budget.[8][9]
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.[10]
| “ |
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.[11] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[12] | ||
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.[10]
Memphis, 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
City Hall
125 N. Main St., Room 700
Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: 901-636-6000
City Court Clerk's office
201 Poplar Ave
Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: 901-636-3400
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Shelby County, Tennessee ballot measures
The city of Memphis is in Shelby County. A list of ballot measures in Shelby 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 Memphis, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Memphis, Tennessee, began on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, at the Memphis Police Department's Union Avenue precinct station.[13] Gov. Bill Lee (R) activated the Tennessee National Guard statewide on May 31, but none were deployed to the city by the end of the weekend.[14] No curfews were issued over the weekend. Mayor Jim Strickland (D) issued a curfew on June 1 and extended it through June 6.[15][16]
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Memphis, 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.[17]
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 Official City Charter of Memphis, "Article 6. Mayor - Sec.37," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ City of Memphis, "Office of the Mayor," accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ Official City Charter of Memphis, "Article 7. Board of Commissioners - Sec. 7.41-53.4," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ City of Memphis, "City Council," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ The Commercial Appeal, "Memphis City Council ends elected office of city court clerk. Voters could recreate it," June 30, 2023
- ↑ WREG, "City Council elections going to a runoff," October 9, 2015
- ↑ Shelby County Election Commission, "Election Calendar 2015," accessed December 18, 2014
- ↑ City of Memphis, "2023 Fiscal Year Adopted Operating Budget," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ City of Memphis, "Finance," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 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
- ↑ Commercial Appeal, "'Stop killing black people': Demonstration closes Union Avenue as protesters face off with counter-protesters, MPD," May 29, 2020
- ↑ ABC Local 24, "Gov. Lee Mobilizes National Guard Across the State, Calls for Further Investigation into Nashville Unrest," May 31, 2020
- ↑ WREG, "Mayor Strickland extends curfew into the weekend," June 6, 2020
- ↑ Commercial Appeal, "Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland orders citywide curfew starting 10 p.m. Monday," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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