Home / Bars & drinking places / Tennessee

Bars in Tennessee

How many bars exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 12 Tennessee counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

Includes: Bars & taverns · Pubs & brewpubs (drinking-focused) · Cocktail & wine bars · Taprooms. Counted together because official statistics use one 722410 code.

State verdict (covered counties): Well below the U.S. rate — 50% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Tennessee

Bars

257

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

0.5

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

1.0

per 10,000 present

State index

50%

vs. U.S.

Residents

4,147,010

in covered counties

Workers

1,946,859

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 12 Tennessee counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing bars and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in Tennessee

City	County	Bars	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Nashville	Davidson County	129–189	727,851	461,146	1.3	133–167%	Range spans bands
Knoxville	Knox County	39–93	499,281	236,911	0.6	63–114%	Range spans bands
Johnson City	Washington County	9–27	146,067	52,808	0.5	52–121%	Range spans bands
Kingsport	Sullivan County	7–25	163,515	58,256	0.4	36–98%	Range spans bands
Clarksville	Montgomery County	7–21	219,798	51,454	0.3	28–69%	Range spans bands
Memphis	Shelby County	31–141	931,943	428,809	0.3	27–80%	Range spans bands
Chattanooga	Hamilton County	12–68	379,528	202,811	0.2	25–120%	Range spans bands
Murfreesboro	Rutherford County	10–36	356,443	130,122	0.2	24–71%	Range spans bands
Mount Juliet	Wilson County	4–16	152,210	55,550	0.2	22–55%	Well below average
Maryville	Blount County	3–23	130,209	55,182	0.2	19–132%	Range spans bands
Brentwood	Williamson County	6–30	248,976	158,539	0.2	18–72%	Range spans bands
Hendersonville	Sumner County	0–16	191,189	55,271	0.0	0–63%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

133%

63%

52%

36%

28%

27%

25%

24%

Most competitors per capita

18%

19%

22%

24%

25%

27%

28%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few bars may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

← All Bars & drinking places markets nationwide · Methodology · Data sources

Check a ZIP or city · Search by radius · Answers · Data story · Methodology · Data sources · About · Privacy · Terms · Updates (RSS)

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.