Reasons People Are Leaving Memphis

Memphis is Tennessee’s second-largest city, home to about 610,000 people, and it has been slowly shrinking for more than a decade. The 2010 Census counted 646,889 residents, the 2020 Census counted 633,104, and the Census Bureau’s July 2025 estimate is 609,647. Most of the people who leave don’t go far: many settle in Shelby County suburbs or just across the state line in DeSoto County, Mississippi. At Spyder Moving and Storage, we run moves out of our Memphis office, and the reasons people are leaving Memphis tend to repeat: property taxes, safety concerns, schools, getting around without a car, and the climate. Below is a fair look at each one, with current numbers, plus the reasons people still choose to relocate to Memphis.

Is Memphis losing population?

Yes, but slowly, and the region as a whole is not emptying out. Memphis lost about 13,800 residents between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, and the Census Bureau’s July 2025 estimate is about 3% below its 2020 baseline. Shelby County also dipped, while several nearby suburbs grew. The table uses U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts data, so you can compare the city with the places Memphians most often move to.

Two patterns stand out. Growth is strongest at the edges of the metro, in Olive Branch, Millington, Southaven and Arlington. And Memphis remains by far the cheapest place in the table to buy a home, which is one reason people keep moving in even as others move out.

Why are people leaving Memphis?

There is rarely one reason. Most households we move weigh several of the factors below at once, and plenty of them keep their Memphis job and simply change ZIP codes. If you are one of them, Spyder’s Memphis movers can handle the move whether you’re going five miles or five states away.

Property taxes stack up inside city limits

Tennessee does not tax wages, and the combined sales tax is 9.75% on most purchases in Memphis and in the Shelby County suburbs alike, so neither of those is what pushes people out. Property tax is different. A Memphis homeowner pays two rates: Shelby County’s 2026 rate of $2.702382 and the City of Memphis rate of $2.58081, both per $100 of assessed value, according to the Shelby County Trustee. Residential property is assessed at 25% of its appraised value.

On a home appraised at $200,000, that works out to about $2,640 a year before any relief programs. The same house in Germantown, where the city lists a rate of $1.7825 on top of the county’s, comes to about $2,240. Every suburb adds its own city rate, but Germantown’s, for example, is about 80 cents lower per $100 of assessed value than Memphis’s, and that difference adds up over the years.

Crime and safety concerns

Safety is the reason people mention most often, and it is a real one: Memphis has long had violent crime rates well above the national average. The trend has turned, though. In its year-end report for 2025, the Memphis Police Department said overall Part I crimes fell 27%, murders fell 26%, robberies fell 31% and carjackings fell 48% compared with 2024. If safety is driving your decision, look at block-level data for the exact streets you’re considering rather than citywide headlines, since conditions vary a lot from one Memphis neighborhood to the next.

Families looking for a different school district

Since 2014, six suburbs (Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington) have run their own municipal school districts, separate from Memphis-Shelby County Schools. For many parents, the move out of Memphis is really a move into a specific school zone. Our guide to the best Memphis neighborhoods for families compares those options in more detail.

Getting around without a car is hard

Memphis has no subway or commuter rail. The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) runs a bus network and downtown trolley lines, but for most commutes a car is the realistic option. The upside is that drives are fairly short: Memphis workers average about 21 minutes to work, according to the Census Bureau. Still, residents who can’t or don’t want to drive often move to cities with stronger transit, and those who do drive often decide that if they’re commuting by car anyway, they may as well live in a suburb with a bigger yard.

Hot, humid summers

Memphis summers are long and sticky. The National Weather Service’s normal high for early July is around 91°F, humidity is high, and mosquitoes stay active for much of the year. Winters are mild and measurable snow is uncommon, which suits some people and disappoints others. Anyone moving from a cooler or drier climate should expect an adjustment, and anyone who works outdoors should plan for the heat from May through September.

Severe storms and flood risk

The Mid-South sees strong thunderstorms, hail and tornado warnings, mostly in spring and late fall, and occasional winter ice storms that knock out power. The Mississippi River is the other risk. According to the National Weather Service office in Memphis, the river crested at about 48 feet at Memphis in May 2011, second only to the 1937 flood. Before you buy, check a property’s flood zone and ask what coverage your insurer requires.

Where do people move when they leave Memphis?

Most Memphis moves we see are local. The most common destinations are:

• Shelby County suburbs: Germantown, Collierville and Bartlett, plus Lakeland and Arlington to the east.
• DeSoto County, Mississippi: Southaven and Olive Branch, which offer newer homes just south of the state line. Keep in mind that Mississippi has a state income tax, while Tennessee does not tax wages.
• Other Tennessee cities: Nashville is roughly three hours east on I-40, and our guide to moving from Memphis to Nashville covers that route.

If you want more room but don’t want to leave the metro, see our list of the best cities near Memphis for young professionals. For a local move like this, local movers in Memphis usually finish the job in a single day.

Why move to Memphis anyway?

The same city that some residents leave keeps drawing newcomers, and the reasons are concrete:

• Housing costs: the median value of an owner-occupied home in Memphis is $169,000 and median gross rent is $1,181 a month (Census Bureau, 2020–2024), well below the suburbs and most large U.S. cities.
• Major employers: FedEx, AutoZone and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are all headquartered in Memphis, and the city is one of the country’s biggest logistics hubs.
• Culture: Beale Street, Sun Studio, Graceland, Stax and the National Civil Rights Museum give Memphis a music and history scene few cities can match.
• Space and parks: Shelby Farms Park, the riverfront and Overton Park are all within city limits.

If you are moving in, read our list of common mistakes when moving to Memphis first, and have furniture movers in Memphis handle the heavy pieces so you can focus on settling in. Once you’ve arrived, these places to meet people in Memphis make the first months easier. You can follow city services and announcements on the official City of Memphis website.

Leaving Memphis or moving within the metro?

Whatever your reasons for leaving Memphis, or for staying in the area and just changing neighborhoods, the move itself should be the easy part. Spyder Moving and Storage’s Memphis team works out of our office at 3290 New Getwell Rd, Suite 204, with our own crews and trucks for local, long-distance, packing and storage jobs. Call us at 901-329-9064 or request a free estimate and we’ll help you plan your move out of Memphis, or into it.